This book is amazing. Several stories about people, both women and men, who were lured by the prospect of getting rich in the gold rush, are told here and are absolutely fascinating. The book is a little bit "R" rated, so it's not for the faint of heart type people when it comes to reading about the realities of humans and their sexual behavior. Some of the pictures are a little bit shocking -- not the kind you usually see of people from that era. However, the stories were just so good and interesting that I had a hard time laying the book down to get busy on other things I needed to do. Very good book!