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16 reviews for:
Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles
Les Standiford
3.58 AVERAGE
16 reviews for:
Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles
Les Standiford
3.58 AVERAGE
informative
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Quite a good book, but not the dirty, sleazy tale that one expects. Instead, pretty much a model for what a major public works project should be (leaving aside the disaster that was the St. Francis Dam).
Well written and a fairly amazing story from start to finish. Solid 4 stars.
Well written and a fairly amazing story from start to finish. Solid 4 stars.
The book can be a little boring at times, but the topic is absolutly fascinating.
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
The book gives a general overview of Mulholland’s career, casting him as a great man, pulled up by his own bootstraps, uninterested in power, money, or pettiness. Instead of a deep dive into the machinations of the LA aqueduct project, it admits that surely there were some bad actors but Mulholland was uninvolved. If the author wanted to clear Mulholland’s name, and he truly was disinterested in politics and power, then he should have told the story of power that contextualized Mulholland as the “great man” he’s claimed to be.
informative
medium-paced
An Accessible Narrative History
The California Water Wars and the Los Angeles Aqueduct are far more fascinating than even Chinatown lets on. Standiford blends solid research and a strong narrative thread to create a compelling read.
The California Water Wars and the Los Angeles Aqueduct are far more fascinating than even Chinatown lets on. Standiford blends solid research and a strong narrative thread to create a compelling read.
A good yarn about a time that seems very distant: when Southern California was a desert, and a purely self-taught man could mobilize millions of dollars and thousands of people to build massive public works. It was a good read, but it also left me wanting more: could have benefited from less focus on people and more on the legal, sociological, environmental, and economic factors that made this possible. Still, definitely something I'd recommend to my friends in LA and suggest to all Californians.
informative
fast-paced