History Resources
www.angelciti.com posted in on December 8th, 2010
Sure, LA is a great place to be, but can you imagine what it must have been like during the golden years as it grew to its rightful place of today? If you’d like to tap into some memories and details about what it took to make the city what it is today, why not check out a few of the following books that you give you the inside peek you’re looking for. The Fragmented Metropolis: Los Angeles, 1850 1930 (Robert M. Fogelson) is considered by many to be the definitive history of Los Angeles from its beginnings as an agricultural village of fewer than 2,000 people to its emergence as a metropolis of more than 2 million in 1930; a city whose distinctive structure, character, and culture foreshadowed much of the development of urban America after World War II.William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles (Catherine Mulholland) is written by Mulholland’s granddaughter and the book 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. 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.A Bright and Guilty Place: Murder, Corruption, and L.A.’s Scandalous Coming of Age (Richard Rayner) is narrative nonfiction at its most gripping. Critical to the book are the story of the theft of water from the Owens River Valley that let L.A. grow; the Teapot Dome scandal that brought shame to President Harding; and the emergence of crime writers like Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain, who helped mythologize L.A.Hollywood Remembered: An Oral History of Its Golden Age (Paul Zollo) takes a look at the celebrated town’s glory days when the studio moguls ran the movie business, Karl Malden, Steve Allen, Jonathan Winters, Walter Bernstein, and other longtime Hollywood residents speak out in this oral history.Los Angeles: Portrait of a City (David L. Ulin) provides a fascinating journey through the city’s cultural, political, industrial, and sociological history. It traces the city’s development from the 1880s’ real estate boom, through the early days of Hollywood and the urban sprawl of the late 20th century, right up to the present day. The book includes over 500 images showcasing the city’s emergence from a desert wasteland to the vast and booming palm-studded metropolis that it is today.