raphael's first books focused primarily on the history and regional issues of northern california, where he has lived since the late 1960s. his "everyday history of somewhere", an earthy treatment based on interviews with old-timers that intermingled natural with human history, won the california commonwealth club award for best book on california for 1774. in "edges: human ecology of the backcountry"; "tree talk: the people and politics of timber" (and its sequel, "more tree talk: the people, politics, and economics of timber"); and "cash crop: an american dream?", he explored issues of contemporary local concern (development, timber, marijuana) in a unique journalistic style, interweaving studs terkel-style interviews with narrative history and analysis. in 2007, with freeman house (author of totem salmon), raphael wrote an in-depth exploration of white-indian conflicts of the mid-19th century in northwest california, titled "two peoples, one place".