TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 445 Each of these books, in its own way, makes a contribution to the growing literature in the field of aeronautical history. Most readers, however, will prefer Vander Meulen’s tightly organized and analytical study to Meyer’s less sophisticated collection of essays and articles. William F. Trimble Dr. Trimble is an associate professor of history at Auburn University. Fortress California, 1910—1961: From Warfare to Welfare. By Roger W. Lotchin. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Pp. xviii + 420; notes, index. $45.00. Since the summer of 1990 California has lost almost one million jobs. Small wonder that in November 1991 Time magazine devoted a special issue to “California: The Endangered Dream.” While part of this is attributable to recession, most California doom watchers agree that structural problems are equally serious and that the loss of defense-related jobs has played a major role. During the 1980s, the Los Angeles area alone accounted for 17 percent of all U.S. defense spending. In the face of massive federal budget deficits and the end of the Cold War, the banquet had to end. The publication of Roger Lotchin’s book is as timely as it is prescient. Fortress California makes two very important contributions to our understanding of how and why California became so dependent on the largesse of the defense budget. First, Lotchin documents that California willingly landed itself in this position long before President Dwight Eisenhower’s famous 1961 farewell address warning of the dangers ofthe military-industrial complex. Indeed, Lotchin traces the roots of California’s dependence back to the 1910s. Second, in explaining the growing importance of military spending to California, he rejects the classic “iron triangle thesis.” He argues forcefully that the martialization of important segments of the California economy originated not because of an incestuous relationship between the federal government, the military, and industry, but because Califor nia’s major cities repeatedly and effectively courted all branches of the military, especially the navy and the air force, thereby creating what he calls a “metropolitan-military” complex. Lacking a secure and diverse industrial base in the early 20th century, Californians believed that military spending would rectify the problem. With the help of numerous civic booster organizations, local universities (especially the California Institute of Technology), and articulate congressmen, California cities competed ferociously and ably for all manner of direct and indirect military expenditures. Lotchin admits that various developments in world affairs, ranging from the perceived threat of Japan in the early 20th century to the Korean War, contributed to a significant reallocation of defense 446 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE spending to California. However, he rejects the conventional wisdom that “natural advantages” (climate and geography, in particular) had anything to do with the success of California’s major cities in attract ing defense contracts. The rise of California’s martial metropolises was due primarily to the will and skill of their lobbying efforts. Lotchin argues strongly that, while civic boosters played the major role in the lobbying effort, support for urban military spending had a broad base ranging from left-wing labor leaders like Harry Bridges to San Diego housewives. By the 1950s, various factors, ranging from the advent of nuclear warfare to the resentment of other states at California’s success in attracting defense dollars, led to a devolution of defense expenditures away from California. The book suffers from some limitations and contradictions. While knocking some holes in the “natural advantage” thesis, Lotchin does not fully convince me that the argument should be thrown out of court. Indeed, occasional pieces of his evidence lend support to the argument. If Lotchin is correct in claiming that it was the sheer cunning and organization of the civic boosters that accounted for the triumph of California’s martial cities, one must ask why California urban boosters were so much more successful than their rivals. Perhaps the California sunshine and beaches endowed the boosters with supernatural powers of perspicacity? It is somewhat superficial and self-fulfilling to examine the outcomes of only those civic boosters who succeeded in their endeavor. This approach runs the risk of overlooking more objective factors. Indeed, the whole history...