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Top Ten Books on Los Angeles History

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[[File:9780520249905.jpg|~~300px~~250px|thumb|left|''Bound for Freedom: Black Los Angeles in Jim Crow America'']]Los Angeles has emerged from a small pueblo in the Spanish colonial backwater to become one of the most recognizable and populous cities in the United States. Los Angeles is an idea, the butt of many jokes, and a topic of serious academic inquiry. Historians have studied Los Angeles for over a century. In terms of historical scholarship, Los Angeles sits at an interesting spot. ~~It's~~ Its history can be explored from Indigenous, Spanish, and American points of view, it can be on a colonial or modern reading list, regionally it is the Spanish north, American West, and Pacific Rim. When looking at race relations in Los Angeles, we see a diversity that is characteristic of the American west, and contrary to the racial dichotomy in the American South.

For those who are interested in studying the history of Los Angeles, these ten books below are a start. These ten books cover a variety of themes and topics that get at the heart of this unique place. In no particular order:

Daniel Hurewitz, ''Bohemian Los Angeles and the Making of Modern Politics'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008). If you read this book with George Chauncey's ''Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940'' you would have a thorough understanding of the pre-Civil Rights Movement history of the gay community on the East and West coasts. Hurewitz uncovers the story of this movement from a group of artists, leftists, and gay men and women who, together, began to formulate ideas that we might now call "identity politics." This book uses an assortment of records to tell this story, and Hurewitz argues that the legacy of these people is still significant in American politics today.

~~[[File:9780520246676.jpg|250px|thumb|left| ''Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of its Mexican Past'']]~~ William F. Deverell, ''Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of its Mexican Past'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004). In focusing on several key points in Los Angeles history, Deverell explores the process through which Los Angeles became modern, white, and American. Deverell argues that this process took place from the late 19th century through the early 20th century and occurred through the selective erasure and obliteration of its Mexican past. If you're interested in the history of memory, this book provides a fascinating perspective on how places are remembered, or how histories of places are created.

Becky M. Nicolaides, ''My Blue Heaven: Life and Politics in the Working-Class Suburbs of Los Angeles, 1920-1965'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002). In ''My Blue Heaven'' Nicolaides lays out the early history of suburbanization near Los Angeles--focusing on the suburb of South Gate. Nicolaides explains how some of these early homeowners in this blue-collar area built their homes from the ground up. Over time, as the are became more diverse, and especially as it was geographically situated next to the African-American community of Watts during the Civil Rights Movement, homeowners in South Gate became increasingly became interested in protecting their homes. However, this was not just about literally protecting their homes, rather they were also concerned with what their homes represented: self-reliance and white homeowner rights.

Nathaniel West, ''The Day of the Locust'' (New York: Random House, 1939).

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