This is a great example of a book that helped me learn about a topic in a way that made it both relevant and interesting and most importantly for me relatable and understandable.

The author takes their home of Oakland and makes it relevant to me a non-American and highlights the role and importance that it represents globally not just domestically. Highlighting the relationships that have led to where we are today and also how the relationships and activities in this relatively small town in the US have global impacts.

This is an incredibly thorough portrait of the city of Oakland, how it's become a big player in the context of international trade and container shipping, and the long term back and forth between the businesses that want to optimize the area for their use, and the people who actually live there. The way that environmental, international, racial, and worker treatment concerns are all woven throughout this is incredibly thorough, and I would love to see more books like this.

This is a fascinating and extremely well-researched and written nonfiction book. To me, it does what all great nonfiction should—takes a topic I've thought about on a surface level, and make it interesting, vital, and propulsive. Madrigal takes his home, Oakland, and writes about all the intertwining influences that have made the city what it is today, which is not just a tech haven. I found the scope of the book astonishing, and I already bought my father a copy (this is a PRIMO dad reading book). I've read Madrigal's work in The Atlantic for years, and I'm so glad he wrote this history of Oakland.