Rakestraw Books presents Nathaniel Philbrick

Rakestraw Books is delighted to invite you to a special evening with prize-winning historian Nathaniel Philbrick as we celebrate the publication of his extraordinary new book, The Rush: California Gold, the Civil War, and the Making of the Modern World, on Thursday, 15 October 2026 at 7 PM.

In January 1848, a carpenter spotted flecks of gold in a shallow stream at Sutter’s Mill in California—triggering the greatest voluntary migration in U.S. history and jolting a fragile republic already sliding toward crisis. In The Rush, Nathaniel Philbrick transforms the Gold Rush from a tale of sudden riches into the origin story of America’s modern contradictions: capital consolidated at dizzying speed, democracy in thrall to private power, xenophobia weaponized in the name of liberty—and a stubborn belief in the American experiment that refuses to die. This is the story of a nation tearing at the seams—a republic tested by its own ideals.

Tickets for this special in-store event are $10 (admits one person and includes $10 off your purchase of The Rush from Rakestraw Books). Please purchase your tickets here on Eventbrite.