Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Reisner, Marc

New York: Penguin Books. Reprint. Paperback. As NEW. 582pp. Octavo [21 cm] Orange pictorial wrappers. New book. Fine. 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 damned, of political corruption 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, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the competition to transform the West.