Rick Nagano is a graduate student in the history department at USC, struggling to make ends meet until he lands a job as a research assistant for the elderly Mrs. W, the heir to an oil fortune. Putting aside his half-finished dissertation, Rick sets up office in Mrs. W's grand Bel Air mansion and begins to transcribe her journals - which document an old Los Angeles not described in his history books. A Student of History explores both the beginnings of Los Angeles and present-day dynamics of race and class. It offers a window into the usually hidden world of high society, and the influence of historic families on current events.
