Travel to San Francisco and All Its Transformations

It’s arguably the most beautiful of America’s major cities, hill upon picturesque hill lined with beautiful homes and buildings, wreathed in fog with the bay as backdrop. But for many of us, San Francisco isn’t home. That’s why we’re bringing you there with our latest selection for Just Booked, our series on gorgeous new travel books, San Francisco: Portrait of a City from bags.

With enlightening text from Richie Unterberger and fantastic photography selected by editor Reuel Golden, the book is a trip (pun intended) into the last century and a half of this fabled city. It’s broken up by periods (1846-1929, 1930-1945, 1946-1963, and so on) that capture the dizzying number of identities this city has worn in such a short span.

The historic images are mesmerizing, from Carleton E. Watkins’ 1869 shot from Telegraph Hill or Arnold Genthe’s shots of gamblers in Chinatown, Jack London, and the earthquake aftermath. Then, as the decades progress and you get the striking urban and modern photos of Imogen Cunningham or even a glam shot of Danielle Steel in the back of a car, it’s almost hard to believe these are from the same city. But, that’s the beauty of San Francisco, and this book.