“The landscape of monotony is elsewhere,” Jack Newcombe writes, and the routes he traces through the vineyards, towns, and parkland of northern California—along with the variegated pleasures to be explored en route—bear the proof:

• Mud baths and wine tasting in Calistoga

• A view from the top at Mt. St. Helena

• Wine touring, the slow and selective way, in the Napa and Sonoma valleys

• “A Beer Experience” in Petaluma, and a dining treat at the New Boonvile Hotel

• Whale watching on the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts

• Walking the redwood forest trails

• Finishing fleets and Victorian mansions in Eureka

These attractions and more—and the colorful past that gave rise to them—are presented in Northern California: A History & Guide, an exciting, indispensable travel companion for a most spectacular region.