The rise and fall of William Mulholland, and the story of L.A.’s disastrous dam collapse: “A dramatic saga of ambition, politics, money and betrayal” (Los Angeles Daily News). 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 five hundred people, caused his repudiation by allies, friends,
Table of Contents
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1 - Genesis
- Chapter 2 - Hand of Betrayal
- Chapter 3 - Sweet Stolen Water
- Chapter 4 - Faithful Servant
- Chapter 5 - Noise of Many Waters
- Chapter 6 - Blood of Sacrifice
- Chapter 7 - Deliverance
- Chapter 8 - Prodigal Daughter
- Chapter 9 - Eden
- Chapter 10 - Wars in Heaven
- Chapter 11 - Unbowed
- Chapter 12 - Retribution
- Chapter 13 - Rivers of Hades
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15 - Persecution
- Chapter 16 - Judgment
- Chapter 17 - Redemption
- Chapter 18 - Kingdom of Angels
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Author Biography
