-
Rivers in the Desert
- William Mulholland and the Inventing of Los Angeles
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Rivers in the Desert
Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Water to the Angels
- William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 177
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 178
The author of Last Train to Paradise tells the story of the largest public water project ever created - William Mulholland's Los Angeles aqueduct - a story of Gilded Age ambition, hubris, greed, and one determined man whose vision shaped the future and continues to impact us today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Water challenges never end
- By John Matel on 04-10-15
By: Les Standiford
-
Palo Alto
- A History of California, Capitalism, and the World
- By: Malcolm Harris
- Narrated by: Patrick Harrison
- Length: 28 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 122
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 103
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 103
In PALO ALTO, the first comprehensive, global history of Silicon Valley, Malcolm Harris examines how and why Northern California evolved in the particular, consequential way it did, tracing the ideologies, technologies, and policies that have been engineered there over the course of 150 years of Anglo settler colonialism, from IQ tests to the "tragedy of the commons," racial genetics, and "broken windows" theory.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Yes, it's Marxist. it's also good.
- By Alex halladay on 02-15-23
By: Malcolm Harris
-
Cadillac Desert, Revised and Updated Edition
- The American West and Its Disappearing Water
- By: Marc Reisner
- Narrated by: Joe Spieler, Kate Udall
- Length: 27 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 557
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 472
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 472
The story of the American West is the story of a relentless quest for a precious resource: water. It is a tale of rivers diverted and dammed, of political corruptions and intrigue, of billion-dollar battles over water rights, of ecologic and economic disaster. In Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner writes of the earliest settlers, lured by the promise of paradise, and of the ruthless tactics employed by Los Angeles politicians and business interests to ensure the city's growth. He documents the bitter rivalry between two government giants to transform the West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Too much mouth noise in narration
- By AES on 07-23-19
By: Marc Reisner
-
Where the Water Goes
- Life and Death Along the Colorado River
- By: David Owen
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 406
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 356
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 353
The Colorado River is an essential resource for a surprisingly large part of the United States, and every gallon that flows down it is owned or claimed by someone. David Owen traces all that water from the Colorado’s headwaters to its parched terminus, once a verdant wetland but now a million-acre desert. He takes listeners on an adventure downriver, along a labyrinth of waterways, reservoirs, power plants, farms, fracking sites, ghost towns, and RV parks, to the spot near the US-Mexico border where the river runs dry.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Water issues are never about only water.
- By Bonny on 08-20-17
By: David Owen
-
The Mirage Factory
- Illusion, Imagination, and the Invention of Los Angeles
- By: Gary Krist
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 317
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 278
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 278
Little more than a century ago, the southern coast of California - bone-dry, harbor-less, isolated by deserts and mountain ranges - seemed destined to remain scrappy farmland. Then, as if overnight, one of the world’s iconic cities emerged. At the heart of Los Angeles’ meteoric rise were three flawed visionaries: William Mulholland, an immigrant ditch-digger turned self-taught engineer; D.W. Griffith, who transformed the motion picture from a vaudeville-house novelty into a cornerstone of American culture; and Aimee Semple McPherson, a charismatic evangelist.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great start, weak completion
- By steve on 05-11-21
By: Gary Krist
-
Floodpath
- The Deadliest Man-Made Disaster of 20th Century America and the Making of Modern Los Angeles
- By: Jon Wilkman
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 51
Driven by eyewitness accounts and combining urban history with a life-and-death drama and a technological detective story, Floodpath grippingly reanimates the reality behind LA noir fictions like the classic film Chinatown. In an era of climate change, increasing demand on water resources, and a neglected American infrastructure, the tragedy of the St. Francis Dam has never been more relevant.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible story
- By C. Jackson on 04-07-21
By: Jon Wilkman
-
Water to the Angels
- William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 177
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 178
The author of Last Train to Paradise tells the story of the largest public water project ever created - William Mulholland's Los Angeles aqueduct - a story of Gilded Age ambition, hubris, greed, and one determined man whose vision shaped the future and continues to impact us today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Water challenges never end
- By John Matel on 04-10-15
By: Les Standiford
-
Palo Alto
- A History of California, Capitalism, and the World
- By: Malcolm Harris
- Narrated by: Patrick Harrison
- Length: 28 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 122
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 103
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 103
In PALO ALTO, the first comprehensive, global history of Silicon Valley, Malcolm Harris examines how and why Northern California evolved in the particular, consequential way it did, tracing the ideologies, technologies, and policies that have been engineered there over the course of 150 years of Anglo settler colonialism, from IQ tests to the "tragedy of the commons," racial genetics, and "broken windows" theory.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Yes, it's Marxist. it's also good.
- By Alex halladay on 02-15-23
By: Malcolm Harris
-
Cadillac Desert, Revised and Updated Edition
- The American West and Its Disappearing Water
- By: Marc Reisner
- Narrated by: Joe Spieler, Kate Udall
- Length: 27 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 557
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 472
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 472
The story of the American West is the story of a relentless quest for a precious resource: water. It is a tale of rivers diverted and dammed, of political corruptions and intrigue, of billion-dollar battles over water rights, of ecologic and economic disaster. In Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner writes of the earliest settlers, lured by the promise of paradise, and of the ruthless tactics employed by Los Angeles politicians and business interests to ensure the city's growth. He documents the bitter rivalry between two government giants to transform the West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Too much mouth noise in narration
- By AES on 07-23-19
By: Marc Reisner
-
Where the Water Goes
- Life and Death Along the Colorado River
- By: David Owen
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 406
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 356
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 353
The Colorado River is an essential resource for a surprisingly large part of the United States, and every gallon that flows down it is owned or claimed by someone. David Owen traces all that water from the Colorado’s headwaters to its parched terminus, once a verdant wetland but now a million-acre desert. He takes listeners on an adventure downriver, along a labyrinth of waterways, reservoirs, power plants, farms, fracking sites, ghost towns, and RV parks, to the spot near the US-Mexico border where the river runs dry.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Water issues are never about only water.
- By Bonny on 08-20-17
By: David Owen
-
The Mirage Factory
- Illusion, Imagination, and the Invention of Los Angeles
- By: Gary Krist
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 317
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 278
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 278
Little more than a century ago, the southern coast of California - bone-dry, harbor-less, isolated by deserts and mountain ranges - seemed destined to remain scrappy farmland. Then, as if overnight, one of the world’s iconic cities emerged. At the heart of Los Angeles’ meteoric rise were three flawed visionaries: William Mulholland, an immigrant ditch-digger turned self-taught engineer; D.W. Griffith, who transformed the motion picture from a vaudeville-house novelty into a cornerstone of American culture; and Aimee Semple McPherson, a charismatic evangelist.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great start, weak completion
- By steve on 05-11-21
By: Gary Krist
-
Floodpath
- The Deadliest Man-Made Disaster of 20th Century America and the Making of Modern Los Angeles
- By: Jon Wilkman
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 51
Driven by eyewitness accounts and combining urban history with a life-and-death drama and a technological detective story, Floodpath grippingly reanimates the reality behind LA noir fictions like the classic film Chinatown. In an era of climate change, increasing demand on water resources, and a neglected American infrastructure, the tragedy of the St. Francis Dam has never been more relevant.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible story
- By C. Jackson on 04-07-21
By: Jon Wilkman
-
One Nation Under Blackmail, Vol. 1
- The Sordid Union Between Intelligence and Crime that Gave Rise to Jeffrey Epstein
- By: Whitney Alyse Webb
- Narrated by: Grace Noble
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 202
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 172
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 172
Volume one of One Nation Under Blackmail traces the origin of the network behind Jeffrey Epstein and his associates to the merging of organized crime and intelligence networks during World War II, following their most notable activities through the decades.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must have
- By Steven Gerweck on 04-04-23
-
Stories of Your Life and Others
- By: Ted Chiang
- Narrated by: Abby Craden, Todd McLaren
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,834
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,352
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,361
Stories of Your Life and Others presents characters who must confront sudden change-the inevitable rise of automatons or the appearance of aliens-while striving to maintain some sense of normalcy. In the amazing and much-lauded title story (the basis for the 2016 movie Arrival), a grieving mother copes with divorce and the death of her daughter by drawing on her knowledge of alien languages and non-linear memory recollection.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing collection of short stories
- By Carolina on 09-15-14
By: Ted Chiang
-
The Wright Brothers
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: David McCullough
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13,874
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12,382
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12,344
Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize David McCullough tells the dramatic story behind the story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly: Wilbur and Orville Wright.
On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright's Wright Flyer became the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard. The Age of Flight had begun. How did they do it? And why?
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By Sara on 07-10-16
By: David McCullough
-
Devil Take the Hindmost
- A History of Financial Speculation
- By: Edward Chancellor
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 329
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 267
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 266
Devil Take the Hindmost is a lively, original, and challenging history of stock market speculation from the 17th century to the present day. Edward Chancellor traces the origins of the speculative spirit back to ancient Rome and chronicles its revival in the modern world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well-picked scenes span tulips up to 20 years ago
- By Philo on 03-07-19
-
Tracers in the Dark
- The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency
- By: Andy Greenberg
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 699
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 598
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 597
Over the last decade, a single innovation has massively fueled digital black markets: cryptocurrency. Crime lords inhabiting lawless corners of the internet have operated more freely—whether in drug dealing, money laundering, or human trafficking—than their analog counterparts could have ever dreamed of. By transacting not in dollars or pounds but in currencies with anonymous ledgers, overseen by no government, beholden to no bankers, these black marketeers have sought to rob law enforcement of their chief method of cracking down on illicit finance: following the money.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Could not put this down
- By Mike Reaves on 01-28-23
By: Andy Greenberg
-
G-Man (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
- J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century
- By: Beverly Gage
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 36 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 482
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 407
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 407
A major new biography of J Edgar Hoover that draws from never-before-seen sources to create a groundbreaking portrait of a colossus who dominated half a century of American history and planted the seeds for much of today's conservative political landscape.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing!
- By Jessica Armas on 12-06-22
By: Beverly Gage
-
The Price of Time
- The Real Story of Interest
- By: Edward Chancellor
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 229
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 193
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 193
In the beginning was the loan, and the loan carried interest. For at least five millennia people have been borrowing and lending at interest. Yet as capitalism became established from the late Middle Ages onwards, denunciations of interest were tempered because interest was a necessary reward for lenders to part with their capital. And interest performs many other vital functions: it encourages people to save; enables them to place a value on precious assets, such as houses and all manner of financial securities; and allows us to price risk.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Big landscape in time and subjects; Austrian view
- By Philo on 08-29-22
-
The Devil in the White City
- Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30,098
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24,845
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24,835
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Rich Read!
- By D on 09-18-03
By: Erik Larson
-
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
- By: Edmund Morris
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 26 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,498
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,924
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,907
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time. Described by the Chicago Tribune as "a classic", The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt stands as one of the greatest biographies of our time. The publication of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt on September 14th, 2001 marks the 100th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt becoming president.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very, very good, but very, very long.
- By Mike From Mesa on 03-29-13
By: Edmund Morris
-
The Great Bridge
- The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 27 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,754
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,435
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,436
This monumental book tells the enthralling story of one of the greatest accomplishments in our nation's history, the building of what was then the longest suspension bridge in the world. The Brooklyn Bridge rose out of the expansive era following the Civil War, when Americans believed all things were possible.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Historian and not a Novelist
- By Tim on 06-01-12
By: David McCullough
-
The Johnstown Flood
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,111
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,273
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,255
At the end of the last century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hardworking families striving for a piece of the nation's burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity, among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A page-turner! HIstory that reads like a novel
- By Susan K Donley on 06-17-05
By: David McCullough
-
The Path Between the Seas
- The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,412
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,119
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,120
The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. McCullough expertly weaves the many strands of this momentous event into a captivating tale.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
No Stone Unturned
- By Tim on 06-25-13
By: David McCullough
Publisher's summary
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 500 people, caused his repudiation by allies, friends, and a previously adoring community. Epic in scope, Rivers in the Desert chronicles the history of Los Angeles and examines the tragic fate of the man who rescued it.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Colossus
- Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century
- By: Michael Hiltzik
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 175
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 118
As breathtaking today as when it was completed, Hoover Dam ranks among America's greatest achievements. The story of its conception, design, and construction is the story of the United States at a unique moment in history: when facing both a global economic crisis and the implacable elements of nature, we prevailed.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Political Biography of the Dam
- By Roy on 02-20-11
By: Michael Hiltzik
-
Water to the Angels
- William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 177
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 178
The author of Last Train to Paradise tells the story of the largest public water project ever created - William Mulholland's Los Angeles aqueduct - a story of Gilded Age ambition, hubris, greed, and one determined man whose vision shaped the future and continues to impact us today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Water challenges never end
- By John Matel on 04-10-15
By: Les Standiford
-
Rising Tide
- The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America
- By: John M. Barry
- Narrated by: Barry Grizzard
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 519
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 391
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 391
An American epic of science, politics, race, honor, high society, and the Mississippi River, Rising Tide tells the riveting and nearly forgotten story of the greatest natural disaster this country has ever known, the Mississippi flood of 1927. The river inundated the homes of nearly one million people, helped elect Huey Long governor and made Herbert Hoover president, drove hundreds of thousands of blacks north, and transformed American society and politics forever.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Where is the rest of the book?
- By Susie on 10-21-13
By: John M. Barry
-
Dark Tide
- The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919
- By: Stephen Puleo
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 370
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 321
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 321
Around noon on January 15, 1919, a group of firefighters were playing cards in Boston's North End when they heard a tremendous crash. It was like, "a roaring surf," one of them said later. Like, "a runaway two-horse team smashing through a fence," said another. A third firefighter jumped up from his chair to look out a window - "Oh my God!" he shouted to the other men, "Run!" A 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses had just collapsed on Boston's waterfront, disgorging its contents as a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that at its outset traveled at 35 miles an hour.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
INTERESTING STORY - ABOUT 2x TOO LONG
- By The Louligan on 09-07-14
By: Stephen Puleo
-
Hoover Dam
- An American Adventure
- By: Joseph E. Stevens
- Narrated by: Kevin Charles Minatrea
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
In the spring of 1931, in a rugged desert canyon on the Arizona-Nevada border, an army of workmen began one of the most difficult and daring building projects ever undertaken: the construction of Hoover Dam. Through the worst years of the Great Depression as many as five thousand laborers toiled twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, to erect the huge structure that would harness the Colorado River and transform the American West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Enjoyed this book
- By Nancy Ann on 02-18-20
-
The Devil in the White City
- Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30,098
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24,845
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24,835
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Rich Read!
- By D on 09-18-03
By: Erik Larson
-
Colossus
- Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century
- By: Michael Hiltzik
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 175
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 118
As breathtaking today as when it was completed, Hoover Dam ranks among America's greatest achievements. The story of its conception, design, and construction is the story of the United States at a unique moment in history: when facing both a global economic crisis and the implacable elements of nature, we prevailed.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Political Biography of the Dam
- By Roy on 02-20-11
By: Michael Hiltzik
-
Water to the Angels
- William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 177
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 178
The author of Last Train to Paradise tells the story of the largest public water project ever created - William Mulholland's Los Angeles aqueduct - a story of Gilded Age ambition, hubris, greed, and one determined man whose vision shaped the future and continues to impact us today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Water challenges never end
- By John Matel on 04-10-15
By: Les Standiford
-
Rising Tide
- The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America
- By: John M. Barry
- Narrated by: Barry Grizzard
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 519
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 391
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 391
An American epic of science, politics, race, honor, high society, and the Mississippi River, Rising Tide tells the riveting and nearly forgotten story of the greatest natural disaster this country has ever known, the Mississippi flood of 1927. The river inundated the homes of nearly one million people, helped elect Huey Long governor and made Herbert Hoover president, drove hundreds of thousands of blacks north, and transformed American society and politics forever.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Where is the rest of the book?
- By Susie on 10-21-13
By: John M. Barry
-
Dark Tide
- The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919
- By: Stephen Puleo
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 370
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 321
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 321
Around noon on January 15, 1919, a group of firefighters were playing cards in Boston's North End when they heard a tremendous crash. It was like, "a roaring surf," one of them said later. Like, "a runaway two-horse team smashing through a fence," said another. A third firefighter jumped up from his chair to look out a window - "Oh my God!" he shouted to the other men, "Run!" A 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses had just collapsed on Boston's waterfront, disgorging its contents as a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that at its outset traveled at 35 miles an hour.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
INTERESTING STORY - ABOUT 2x TOO LONG
- By The Louligan on 09-07-14
By: Stephen Puleo
-
Hoover Dam
- An American Adventure
- By: Joseph E. Stevens
- Narrated by: Kevin Charles Minatrea
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
In the spring of 1931, in a rugged desert canyon on the Arizona-Nevada border, an army of workmen began one of the most difficult and daring building projects ever undertaken: the construction of Hoover Dam. Through the worst years of the Great Depression as many as five thousand laborers toiled twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, to erect the huge structure that would harness the Colorado River and transform the American West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Enjoyed this book
- By Nancy Ann on 02-18-20
-
The Devil in the White City
- Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30,098
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24,845
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24,835
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Rich Read!
- By D on 09-18-03
By: Erik Larson
-
The Path Between the Seas
- The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,412
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,119
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,120
The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. McCullough expertly weaves the many strands of this momentous event into a captivating tale.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
No Stone Unturned
- By Tim on 06-25-13
By: David McCullough
-
Trapped!
- The Story of Floyd Collins
- By: Robert K. Murray, Roger W. Brucker
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 211
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 178
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 176
The sensationalism and hysteria of the rescue attempt in early 1925 of caver Floyd Collins generated America's first true media spectacle and one of the seminal events of the century.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A real gem of an audio
- By John on 11-29-09
By: Robert K. Murray, and others
-
Fire and Brimstone
- The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917
- By: Michael Punke
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 353
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 302
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 304
The worst hard-rock mining disaster in American history began a half hour before midnight on June 8, 1917, when fire broke out in the North Butte Mining Company's Granite Mountain shaft. Sparked more than 2,000 feet below ground, the fire spewed flames, smoke, and poisonous gas through a labyrinth of underground tunnels. Within an hour more than 400 men would be locked in a battle to survive. Within three days 164 of them would be dead.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fairly Solid Book With Good History
- By Matthew on 08-18-16
By: Michael Punke
-
Conquering Gotham
- The Construction of Penn Station and Its Tunnels
- By: Jill Jonnes
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 164
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 95
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
The demolition of Penn Station in 1963 destroyed not just a soaring neoclassical edifice, but also a building that commemorated one of the last century's great engineering feats: the construction of railroad tunnels into New York City. Now, in this gripping narrative, Jill Jonnes tells this fascinating story - a high-stakes drama that pitted the money and will of the nation's mightiest railroad against the corruption of Tammany Hall, the unruly forces of nature, and the machinations of labor agitators.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A good tale of the times
- By Edouard on 02-08-08
By: Jill Jonnes
-
King and Queen of Malibu
- The True Story of the Battle for Paradise
- By: David K. Randall
- Narrated by: Eric Summerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
Over a half century, Malibu went from an untamed ranch in the middle of nowhere to a paradise seeded with movie stars. Behind its transformation is the love story of Frederick and May Rindge. He was a Harvard-trained confidant of presidents; she grew up on a hardscrabble Midwestern farm; yet their unlikely bond would shape history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Listen!
- By Anonymous User on 09-25-23
By: David K. Randall
-
The Race Underground
- Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry That Built America's First Subway
- By: Doug Most
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 154
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 138
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 137
In the late nineteenth century, as cities like Boston and New York grew larger, the streets became increasingly clogged with horse-drawn carts. When the great blizzard of 1888 brought New York City to a halt, a solution had to be found. Two brothers - Henry Melville Whitney of Boston and William Collins Whitney of New York City - pursued the dream of his city being the first American metropolis to have a subway and the great race was on.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Informative Cobbled Telling of an Important Story
- By Lynn on 05-21-14
By: Doug Most
-
Meet You in Hell
- Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership that Transformed America
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 203
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 130
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 128
Here is history that reads like fiction: the riveting story of two founding fathers of American industry, Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick, and the bloody steelworkers' strike that transformed their fabled partnership into a furious rivalry. Author Les Standiford begins at the bitter end, when the dying Carnegie proposes a final meeting after two decades of separation. Frick's reply: "Tell him that I'll meet him in hell."
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
an extended journalistic tour
- By D. Littman on 06-08-05
By: Les Standiford
-
Chief Engineer
- Washington Roebling, the Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge
- By: Erica Wagner
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
His father conceived of the Brooklyn Bridge, but after John Roebling's sudden death, Washington Roebling built what has become one of American's most iconic structures - as much a part of New York as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. Yet, as recognizable as the bridge is, its builder is too often forgotten - and his life is of interest far beyond his chosen field. It is the story of immigrants, of the frontier, of the greatest crisis in American history, and of the making of the modern world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Monumental
- By charles mueller on 07-09-19
By: Erica Wagner
-
The Mirage Factory
- Illusion, Imagination, and the Invention of Los Angeles
- By: Gary Krist
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 317
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 278
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 278
Little more than a century ago, the southern coast of California - bone-dry, harbor-less, isolated by deserts and mountain ranges - seemed destined to remain scrappy farmland. Then, as if overnight, one of the world’s iconic cities emerged. At the heart of Los Angeles’ meteoric rise were three flawed visionaries: William Mulholland, an immigrant ditch-digger turned self-taught engineer; D.W. Griffith, who transformed the motion picture from a vaudeville-house novelty into a cornerstone of American culture; and Aimee Semple McPherson, a charismatic evangelist.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great start, weak completion
- By steve on 05-11-21
By: Gary Krist
-
The White Cascade
- The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche
- By: Gary Krist
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 129
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 117
In February 1910, a monstrous blizzard centered on Washington State hit the Northwest, breaking records. The world stopped - but nowhere was the danger more terrifying than near a tiny town called Wellington, perched high in the Cascade Mountains, where a desperate situation evolved minute by minute: two trainloads of cold, hungry passengers and their crews found themselves marooned without escape, their railcars gradually being buried in the rising drifts.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A detailed, yet very readable account.
- By Rindt on 02-20-18
By: Gary Krist
-
New World Coming
- The 1920s and the Making of Modern America
- By: Nathan Miller
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 18 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
Jazz. Bootleggers. Flappers. Talkies. Model T Fords. Lindbergh's history-making flight over the Atlantic. The 1920s was also the decade of the hard-won vote for women, racial injustice, censorship, social conflict, and the birth of organized crime.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My High School History Class Never Told
- By Charles Stembridge on 06-29-04
By: Nathan Miller
-
The Big Rich
- The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes
- By: Bryan Burrough
- Narrated by: James Jenner
- Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 679
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 513
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 512
Best-selling author Bryan Burrough reveals how four Texas oil tycoons transformed America. Rising from humble beginnings through hard work and shrewd dealings, they shifted the balance of power in American politics. While hobnobbing with movie stars and presidents, the Big Rich also created the legend of the swaggering Texas oilman with island hideaways and sprawling ranches.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Big, Sordid, Fascinating, PoliticallyCorrect
- By Darkcoffee on 11-09-09
By: Bryan Burrough
What listeners say about Rivers in the Desert
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Brian B
- 07-20-22
Water You Thinking?
She likes Mulholland but is fairly balanced. Interesting read and subject, and written such that it is suitable as an Audiobook.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- Buretto
- 01-22-22
Water torture
Like a dry, but extraordinarily long, book report about a prominent local citizen, or a County Planning Board hearing considering the issue of commercial re-zoning. Pick your poison. There's so much minutiae about Mulholland's family, his daughter's love life, and quirky habits, it's hard to pick out the bits that hold some legitimate interest on the subject at hand. It's been a while since I read Water to the Angels, but it must have been better than this, and a significantly better title as well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!