<p>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 dammed of political corruptions and intrigue of billion-dollar battles over water rights of ecologic and economic disaster. In <i>Cadillac Desert</i> 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 US Army Corps of Engineers in the competition to transform the West.</p><p>Based on more than a decade of research <i>Cadillac Desert </i>is a stunning exposé and a dramatic intriguing history of the creation of Eden—an Eden that may be only a mirage.</p>