Inventing Paradise: The Power Brokers Who Created the Dream of Los Angeles

Historian Haddad (Freewaytopia) offers a meticulous group biography of six powerful men who were behind the supercharged growth of Los Angeles at the turn of the 20th century. Though Haddad describes these men as a “Gilded Age-reared oligarchy” and “voracious capitalists,” his aim is to add depth to one-dimensional negative depictions of them by highlighting the monumental nature of their ambitions (“While it is true each hungered for power, distilling their accomplishments to pure greed is a reductive view”). In working to bring about the city’s massive port, its regional water monopoly, its streetcar and rail systems, and its acquisition of neighboring territory, these six “titans of industry”—among them businessman Phineas Banning, politician Harris Gray Otis, and newspaperman Harrison Chandler—enriched themselves and caused harm (especially to Black communities) but also built a vibrant metropolis, in Haddad’s bullish assessment. His dense narrative, which highlights his subjects’ dexterity when it came to wielding corporate and government power, is occasionally shortchanged by simplistic dismissals of thorny histories; for instance, Haddad brushes aside the allegation that water baron William Mulholland caused an artificial drought to sway an upcoming election in favor of his aqueduct. Still, L.A. history buffs will find much to engage them here. (June)