Floodpath, Jon Wilkman
Floodpath, Jon Wilkman
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Floodpath
The Deadliest Man-Made Disaster of 20th Century America and the Making of Modern Los Angeles

Author: Jon Wilkman

Narrator: Charles Constant

Unabridged: 10 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/28/2020


Synopsis

Just before midnight on March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam, a twenty-story-high concrete structure just fifty miles north of Los Angeles, suddenly collapsed, releasing a devastating flood that roared fifty-four miles to the Pacific Ocean, destroying everything in its path. It was a horrific catastrophe, yet one which today is virtually forgotten.

With research gathered over more than two decades, award-winning writer and filmmaker Jon Wilkman revisits the deluge that claimed nearly five hundred lives. A key figure is William Mulholland, the self-taught engineer who created an unprecedented water system, allowing Los Angeles to become America's second largest city, and who was also responsible for the design and construction of the St. Francis Dam.

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.

About Jon Wilkman

Jon Wilkman is an author and award-winning filmmaker whose work has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, HBO, and A&E. His seven-part Turner Classic Movies series, Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood, was nominated for three Emmys. His book Floodpath was an Amazon Nonfiction Book of the Year. A founding member and three-term president of the International Documentary Association, Wilkman lives in Los Angeles.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sam

A really well written delve into a disaster that really brought home the human impacts of such large destructive events. The thorough look through the factors that led to this disaster as well as the reflections on the current state of US infrastructure really cement the continued relevance of this......more

Goodreads review by Jeanine

I've been to Fillmore and have seen the police motorcycle statute. Now I understand the significance. Really good book.......more

Goodreads review by Susan

A well-researched book on the collapse of the St Francis Dam in San Francisquito Valley in 1928. A look at the building of the dam, the collapse just before midnight, the actions of those trying to save lives, and the aftermath. Also a look into why the dam collapsed. Covers the hearings and trial b......more