This is not a history of San Francisco, nor is it really an overview. The first half of the book presents vignettes from the history of the city, from the founding of the first settlement to some of the rowdiness of city during the gold rush era and beyond. Obviously since the book was written in the 1930s a 21st century reader will not be able to find the entire history, but what is there is enjoyable.

The second half is filled with impressions of the various neighborhoods and parts of the city. The difficulty for the modern reader is that the author writes these chapters in an impressionistic style that assumes that the reader is somewhat familiar with a 1930s San Francisco. The writing itself is pleasant and flowing, but often the reader wouldn't be able to really get a true mental picture of the area being described. Still, if you can overlook this, there is a great pleasure in the reading.

The illustrations are fantastic and alone would make a purchase worthwhile if you don't have to pay much for the book. Overall the book has a great charm to it and is definitely worth a look. ( )