William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.58 (715 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0520234669 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 432 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2018-01-30 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
. 40 b&w photos. From Publishers Weekly Controversial, self-taught engineer Mulholland (1855-1935) was almost singlehandedly responsible for transforming Los Angeles from a dusty pueblo of 9,000 souls into a teeming megalopolis. Francis Dam disaster, which unleashed a flood that killed 500 people and destroyed Mulholland's career. Owens Valley farmers and ranchers, who felt their water had been wrongfully taken from them, committed acts of sabotage, dynamiting sections of the aqueduct in 1924 and 1927 (the 1979 movie Chinatown dealt with parts of this saga). Critics charge that the aqueduct, which diverted water to L.A. The tough-as-nails Iris
The story of Los Angeles's quest for water is both famous and notorious: it has been the subject of the classic yet historically distorted movie Chinatown, as well as many other accounts. She scrutinizes Mulholland's life—from his childhood in Ireland to his triumphant completion of the Owens Valley Aqueduct to the tragedy that ended his career. This first full-length biography of Mulholland challenges many of the prevailing versions of his life story and sheds new light on the history of Los Angeles and its relationship with its most prized resource: water.Catherine Mulholland, the engineer's granddaughter, provides insights into this story that family familiarity affords, and adds to our historical understanding with extensive primary research in sources such as Mulholland's recently uncovered office files, newspapers, and Department of Water and Power archives. William Mulholland preside
"Dull as well, ditch water" according to qwerty. This is a very dull, technical read although no doubt it is accurate. I prefer the fictionalized Chinatown contortion of the story. I am sure William Mulholland's true story is fascinating, but this book has more in it about the passing of regulations and ordinances and so on, than the real drama of his story, and seems to be pretty short of depicting the real characters at. A Great Story Lost in the Details One of the great stories in American history was the transformation of Los Angeles from a sleepy, anarchic California town into the megalopolis of today. And in any history of this transformation, the figure of William Mulholland looms large, for it was he who almost single-handedly brought about this transformation by providing Los Angeles with the one thing it needed to g. "Lacking Details on Engineering and Family Life" according to Amazon Customer. The interest for reading the book was to learn the man behind bringing water to Los Angeles that led to making it one of the most known cities in the world. As much as Ms. Mullholland stated the projects her grandfather William did, it lacked details in laypersons terms the design features that made them among the world's great engineering feats. You wonder if the author wa