Neal Harlow was on the staffs of the Bancroft Library, the California State Library, and the library of UCLA; he was Head Librarian at the University of British Columbia for a decade and was Dean of the Graduate School of Library Service, Rutgers University, from 1961 to 1969.

"Neal Harlow, diligent, wise and witty historian, [has] created a truly superb book which organizes, reveals and illustrates the beginnings of this state."—J.S. Holliday, San Francisco Chronicle

"Using extensive and original sources, Harlow has written a definitive account of the addition of California, from the earliest antecedents for conquest to the establishment of the first state government. Broad in scope, yet intimate in detail, this work tells of the activities not only of American military leaders, but also of Mexican and Californian officials."—W. Edwin Derrick, Library Journal

"Long in the making, [California Conquered] is a work of love, intelligence, talent, and dedication. It will be a standard by which other studies on the subject and on related topics will be weighed for many years, probably generations."—John Porter Bloom, Western Historical Review

"Harlow supersedes everyone else who has written about the invasion and occupation [of California] by the US because he summarizes the literature of the field, treats the story in great detail, keeps the narrative straight, and deftly weaves a large number of quotations into the text to allow the characters to speak for themselves. The book is, therefore, a mine of information about the end of the Mexican and the beginning of the American era."—Choice