James Conaway, the author of nine previous books, is a contributing editor for Preservation and a regular contributor to Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, and Food & Wine magazines, among many others.
Less than 30 years ago, oak trees claimed more Napa Valley soil than grapevines. A few winemakers who had held on through Prohibition and some newcomers, deemed eccentric by most, had great faith in the potential preeminence of Napa wines. They planted grapes unknown to the Valley--Chardonnay, Cabernet--and within 25 years, Napa wines had come to rival those of France and Italy. Former Washington Post reporter Conaway ( The Kingdom in the Country, LJ 10/15/87) carefully profiles Napa's visionaries, telling their personal stories and revealing the unlikely sources of their inspiration, some of it the stuff of fevered historical romance fiction. He also documents the 1970s invasion of tourism and the big liquor companies. His book is readable and authoritative, if somewhat exhausting. Another history of Napa will not be needed for many years.-- Tim Zindel, Hastings Coll. of the Law, San Francisco
Conaway ( The Kingdom in the Country ), here tells the history of Napa Valley wines and the development of wine-drinking in America. He relates the stories of those colorful individuals who settled in the California valley for its beauty and quiet, but were drawn by the favorable conditions into the competition to make a better wine. His other tales are of ``development'' itself, which has spoiled and polluted the area's natural beauty, and has pitted neighbor against neighbor in a political struggle to stop ``progress'' and prevent corporate takeovers of the wine industry. A tale of violence this is not, but a little creeps into some of the stories, mortals being less perfectible than wine. This lively history should have wide appeal. Photos. (Oct.)
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