Santa Monica Beach: A Collector's Pictorial History Hardcover – Illustrated, 1 April 2011

I grew up in Santa Monica, lived there from the early 50s to 1980. In those days, much of the early history of this wonderful town was still clearly visible. Ernest Marquez has done a wonderful job in writing about the evolution of this beautiful area. For me, he brought back many pleasant memories of my childhood in this town. Marquez has a fine way with his words, and has spread the stories among a nice large collection of photographs. The pace of this book between text and photographs flows nicely. I did not expect to read it cover to cover, but indeed found myself looking forward to reading another chapter every evening before bed. The book is in a quality binding, with good quality paper, and excellent reproduction quality of the photographs. This book is definitely the best one of several books currently available on Santa Monica.

Great gift for those who are newly arrived or have lived here in another life. Many of the photos are very rare.The area has a rich history that is capturered in these photos. Highly recommended .

Thank you Ernest for making a wonderful history of Santa Monica. Years of research shows throughout and wonderful pictures. I recommend this to anyone that is interested in how much of the southwest came about and to anyone that is into history. This book is very well written.

Hardcover. Great condition. A couple shelf scratches on the back of the book sleeve cover but doesn't bother me. No tears or worn pages. I play beach volleyball on these beaches and I wanted to know the history behind it. Great conversation piece!

Got this for my dad for his 79th birthday. He grew up in Santa Monica (SaMoHi class of '56) and I know he's appreciated the history and pictures from this extensively researched book.