San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach: The Golden Years ($22.95) presents Playland as it is best remembered today — a playground where families experienced endless days of fun in San Francisco’s glorious postwar boom. Illustrated by over 200 rare black-and-white and color photographs — including many images never before published — San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach: The Golden Years takes the reader back in time to experience the rides, attractions, restaurants and behind-the-scenes operations of the great amusement park at the height of its glory.

California historian James R. Smith is the author of San Francisco’s Lost Landmarks, The California Snatch Racket, and San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach: The Early Years, as well as numerous historical articles. A well-respected authority in California history, he has spent years chronicling the stories of San Francisco and the California Gold Country. Smith is a frequent lecturer and discussion leader at universities, historical societies, libraries and bookstores.