Rivers in the Desert tells a mythlike American story of how one man, through vision, daring, and engineering genius, invented the Los Angeles of the future, only to fall tragically from grace due to an unforeseen disaster. The man was William Mulholland; his creation, the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the tremendous 235 mile waterway that transformed an arid and sparsely populated town into a thriving city of millions.The story of the aqueduct,the heroism of its builders, the record-breaking feats of engineering, the political shenanigans of land speculators, and the impact it had on the lives of ordinary people,is much more than a chronicle of a gifted engineer. It is the history of the birth and development of southern California, and of a man who was as unique a talent as any in America's history.words : 87863