Rivers in the Desert

William Mulholland and the Inventing of Los Angeles

By: Margaret Leslie Davis

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Rivers in the Desert follows the remarkable career of William Mulholland, the visionary who engineered the rise of Los Angeles as the greatest American city west of the Mississippi. He sought to transform the sparse and barren desert into an inhabitable environment by designing the longest aqueduct in the Western Hemisphere, bringing water from the mountains to support a large city.

This "fascinating history" chronicles Mulholland's dramatic ascension to wealth and fame - followed by his tragic downfall after the sudden collapse of the dam he had constructed to safeguard the water supply (Newsweek). The disaster, which killed at least 500 people, caused his repudiation by allies, friends, and a previously adoring community. Epic in scope, Rivers in the Desert chronicles the history of Los Angeles and examines the tragic fate of the man who rescued it.

©1993 Maggie Davis (P)2021 Tantor

Water You Thinking?

She likes Mulholland but is fairly balanced. Interesting read and subject, and written such that it is suitable as an Audiobook.

Water torture

Like a dry, but extraordinarily long, book report about a prominent local citizen, or a County Planning Board hearing considering the issue of commercial re-zoning. Pick your poison. There's so much minutiae about Mulholland's family, his daughter's love life, and quirky habits, it's hard to pick out the bits that hold some legitimate interest on the subject at hand. It's been a while since I read Water to the Angels, but it must have been better than this, and a significantly better title as well.

Many inaccuracies-do some independent reseach

This book deals primarily with the difficulties of building the infrastructure of transporting the water from the Owns Valley to LA. It pretty well leaves the impression that the San Francis dam failed because of geological factors. It is my understanding that the primary reason the dam failed was because the dam what is designed by a self taught civil engineer – William Mulholland. Although he had used plans for similar dams previously, he made last minute changes to this dam’s dimensions, and failed to realize that changing one part of the plan necessitates adjustment of other parts of the construction of the dam. There is a lot of information ,from reliable sources on this issue. I would encourage you to do some reading on your own on this interesting topic.