Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles (Pittsburgh Hist Urban Environ) |
Buy Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles (Pittsburgh Hist Urban Environ) here, one of 750 Iowa History books offered for sale at discount prices here in the history books section at R bookshop. There are currently 73081 history books in our history books section, and over 1,000,000 books listed in our book store. We greatly appreciate your patronage at R bookshop and look forward to offering you a large selection of great books at discount prices now and in the future. Thank you for shopping at R Bookshop!
|
You Are Here: Home > History Books > Iowa History > Item 98
 |
Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles (Pittsburgh Hist Urban Environ)
|
by William Deverell and Greg Hise
Sales Rank: 613214
|
List Price: $25.95
$25.95
At Amazon
on 6-19-2008.
|
|
|
|
Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 360 pages
Published by: University of Pittsburgh PressEdition: 1st Edition June 28, 2006
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0822959399
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0822959397
Book Dimensions:
9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
Weighs: 1.4 pounds
Product Review
“Since ancient times, great cities have been shaped by their environments. But cities have also exacted their price. In these astute and very necessary essays, leading experts who are also good writers tackle important questions regarding the origins, rise, present circumstances and future sustainability of the second largest metropolitan region in the nation. No one can understand the City of Angels and its attendant communities without reference to this pioneering book.”
—Kevin Starr, University Professor and Professor of History, University of Southern California, Author, Americans and the California Dream series
"A powerful and compelling insight into how the greater Los Angeles area from prehistory to the present has succeeded, failed, and compromised at environmental sustainability."
—Norris Hundley, UCLA
"The collection offers a strong arguement for the continued relevance and vitality of serious writing about Los Angeles, and of promise for the editor's enterprise in urban environmental history."
--Historical Geography
Product Description
Most people equate Los Angeles with smog, sprawl, forty suburbs in search of a city-the great "what-not-to-do" of twentieth-century city building. But there's much more to LA's story than this shallow stereotype. History shows that Los Angeles was intensely, ubiquitously planned. The consequences of that planning-the environmental history of urbanism--is one place to turn for the more complex lessons LA has to offer.
Working forward from ancient times and ancient ecologies to the very recent past, Land of Sunshine is a fascinating exploration of the environmental history of greater Los Angeles. Rather than rehearsing a litany of errors or insults against nature, rather than decrying the lost opportunities of "roads not taken," these essays, by nineteen leading geologists, ecologists, and historians, instead consider the changing dynamics both of the city and of nature.
In the nineteenth century, for example, "density" was considered an evil, and reformers struggled mightily to move the working poor out to areas where better sanitation and flowers and parks "made life seem worth the living."
We now call that vision "sprawl," and we struggle just as much to bring middle-class people back into the core of American cities. There's nothing natural, or inevitable, about such turns of events. It's only by paying very close attention to the ways metropolitan nature has been constructed and construed that meaningful lessons can be drawn. History matters.
So here are the plants and animals of the Los Angeles basin, its rivers and watersheds. Here are the landscapes of fact and fantasy, the historical actors, events, and circumstances that have proved transformative over and over again. The result is a nuanced and rich portrait of Los Angeles that will serve planners, communities, and environmentalists as they look to the past for clues, if not blueprints, for enhancing the quality and viability of cities.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Land Of Sunshine: An Environmental History Of Metropolitan Los Angeles (History of the Urban Environment) (Hardcover)
Los Angeles has long been equated with smog and urban sprawl, but there's more to its development story and problems than meets the eye, as William Deverell and Greg Hise explore in Land Of Sunshine: An Environmental History Of Metropolitan Los Angeles. From earliest times and old ecologies of the area to modern times, Land Of Sunshine provides a different environmental history of greater Los Angeles, providing essays by nineteen leading geologists, ecologists, and historians on the changing perceptions of density, environmental reform, and urban design standards. Urban planning readers, in particular, will welcome these essays lending insight into metropolitan Los Angeles' development influences.
Comment | |
(Report this)
Back To Top
|
Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles (Pittsburgh Hist Urban Environ)
Available from Amazon
Price: $25.95
Updated on 6-19-2008.
|
NOTICE: All prices, availability, and specifications
are subject to verification by their respective retailers.
| We offer Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles (Pittsburgh Hist Urban Environ) and other related Iowa History Books here at Rbookshop.com. To view more books about Iowa History please use the previous and next buttons near the top of this page.
|
|
Search for books at
