HISTORIC SPOTS IN CALIFORNIA <i> by Mildred Brooke Hoover, Hero Eugene Rensch, Ethel Grace Rensch, William N. Abeloe, revised by Douglas E. Kyle (Stanford University Press: $19.95; 617 pp.).</i>

So you think California is a state without a sense of the past, a transitory place with as much reverence for history as Attila the Hun? This weighty tome, now in its fourth edition and newly revised for its first appearance in paperback, begs to differ with you. Organized by county and with mileage and specific locations given to aid the traveler, this book deals not only with obvious sites like missions and mansions (for instance, Eureka’s Carson Mansion, above), but also includes more outre attractions like the James Dean Memorial in San Luis Obispo County and Fresno’s legendary underground gardens. Don’t leave home without it.