On a chilly February day in 1915 the gates opened for the long-awaited Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. More than 250,000 men, women, and children eagerly ventured onto the massive fairgrounds spanning 635 acres. ''So begins the story of this extravagant world's fair, a city within a city celebrating San Francisco's recovery from the Great Earthquake and Fire of seven years before. Sumptuously illustrated with more than 175 vintage images, the saga is told in this beautiful hard bound book through tales of its visionaries, builders, participants, performers, artists and attendees by the grandson of one of its prime movers. The Exposition remains a most beloved piece of San Francisco history, with few still alive who recall its glory. For the rest of us, Panorama ignites not just nostalgia, but the closest feeling we'll ever have to being there.