“Every Los Angeles-based history, political science, and ethnic or urban studies instructor has been waiting for this anthology. …The book’s overarching aims serve to revisit and reenvision L.A.’s early history and prehistory, uncover long-term patterns obscured by earlier episodic treatments, and influence the shaping of the city’s future.” (Western Historical Quarterly, 2012)
"Overall, this is a fascinating fractured account of various time periods, events, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and urban sprawl in a city that has become synonymous with the American Dream." (Philosophy & Religion, November 2010)
A Companion to Los Angeles is a unique study of America’s second largest city, and the first Companion devoted to a single metropolis. The volume consists of 25 essays, each an original contribution by a writer or scholar, which collectively assess the best and most important work to date on the complex history of Los Angeles.
The structure of the Companion allows readers to view the emergence of long-term patterns within the history of Los Angeles. Instead of organizing the essays around discrete, time-specific events, the editors focus on critical themes and broad multi-disciplinary topics which span different periods and generations, including demography, social unrest, politics, popular culture, architecture, and urban studies. Three photographic essays, along with the “contemporary voice” essays that conclude each section, complement the historiographic essays and provide a truly multi-dimensional view of the city.
Together, the contributions constitute a lively and informed introduction to a history as fascinating as it is complex. The Companion is an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and a general readership eager to situate the history of greater Los Angeles within a larger body of metropolitan studies and the history of the United States itself.
