Angeltown

by D.J. Phinney

California water shortages are legendary. And so is the story of how water was brought to Los Angeles. Take a step back in time to when a broken man launches a plan to bring Los Angeles a river… Based on the truth behind the backstory for the classic movie Chinatown , Angeltown transports you to a long-forgotten decade when nine men controlled a region of 100,000 people that eventually grew up to be Los Angeles. Set in another hushed-up period of California history, Angeltown is the story of two hard-luck families, the Alvarados, descendants of a California governor, and the Eatons, who have tumbled from the pinnacle of power, as they wage separate wars to stay afloat against a media conglomerate and nine men who set their animosities aside to consolidate their control and leverage other people’s money to make millions. In this story of three valleys in the early 1900’s where the wildest West transitions into modern-day Los Angeles, the Owens Valley loses a river, the San Fernando Valley steals a river, and the Imperial Valley finds itself submerged beneath two rivers. Angeltown exposes how the money-making schemes of nine oligarchs cause three counties unintended consequences that set the stage for the future of one of the best-known cities in the world and the state that surrounds it. Stepped in true but hidden history, the story’s characters and dilemmas are as relevant today as they were in 1904. Bringing California’s hidden history to life, D.J. Phinney makes it feel alarmingly familiar and relevant, reminding us that like history, human nature often repeats itself.

626 pages, Paperback

Published October 12, 2023