Eternity Street: Violence and Justice in Frontier Los Angeles
<p><strong>"[A] fascinating account of the twisted threads of murder, ethnic violence and mob justice in 19th century Southern California." —Jill Leovy, author of <em>Ghettoside: A History of Murder in America</em>, in the <em>Los Angeles Times</em></strong></p><br><p>Los Angeles is a city founded on blood. Once a small Mexican pueblo teeming with Californios, Indians, and Americans, all armed with Bowie knives and Colt revolvers, it was among the most murderous locales in the Californian frontier. In <em>Eternity Street: Violence and Justice in Frontier Los Angeles</em>, "a vivid, disturbing portrait of early Los Angeles" (<em>Publishers Weekly</em>), John Mack Faragher weaves a riveting narrative of murder and mayhem, featuring a cast of colorful characters vying for their piece of the city. These include a newspaper editor advocating for lynch laws to enact a crude manner of racial justice and a mob of Latinos preparing to ransack a county jail and murder a Texan outlaw. In this "groundbreaking" (<em>True West</em>) look at American history, Faragher shows us how the City of Angels went from a lawless outpost to the sprawling metropolis it is today.</p>