Imperial is a 2009 study of south-east California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author William T. Vollmann

William T. Vollmann

William Tanner Vollmann is an American novelist, journalist, short story writer, essayist and winner of the National Book Award...

. The product of over a decade's research, the 1,344-page published text is Vollmann's longest single-volume work. The book is divided into thirteen sections and explores the history, economics and geography of the region from 13,000 B.C. to the present day, with a particular focus on the border with Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

Vollmann has called Imperial "my Moby-Dick

Moby-Dick

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...

".