Here with a new preface, a new foreword, and an updated bibliography is the definitive history of Los Angeles from its beginnings as an agricultural village of fewer than 2,000 people to its emergence as a metropolis of more than 2 million in 1930—a city whose distinctive structure, character, and culture foreshadowed much of the development of urban America after World War II.

Robert M. Fogelson is Professor of Urban Studies and History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"A contribution of inestimable value for all of us."—Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Urban history has rapidly become one of the most popular fields for scholarly inquiry and also one of the most confused. Helping to supply an intelligent method is this book by Robert Fogelson, who eschews the traditional approach to the history of Los Angeles, with its emphasis on isolated dramatic personalities and events, and focuses instead on the process of urbanization."—Norris Hundley, Journal of American History

"An excellent addition to the small but growing shelf of serious urban historical studies. . . . Fogelson's scholarly work at last makes it possible to place Los Angeles with some confidence in the framework of American urban history."—Sam Bass Warner, Jr., American Historical Review

"The most detailed study ever published of Los Angeles' most critical period. . . . An invaluable aid to my understanding of this city."—David Brodsly, author of L.A. Freeway