In a gripping reconnaissance into the urban future, Mike Davis, a provocative interpreter of the American metropolis unravels the secret history of disaster, real and imaginary, in Southern California and shows how these tragedies could have been avoided. As he surveys the earthquakes of Santa Monica, the burning of Koreatown, the invasion of 'man-eating' mountain lions, the movie 'Volcano', and even Los Angeles' underrated tornado problem, he exposes the deep complicity between social injustice and perceptions of natural disorder. Arguing that paranoia about nature obscures the fact that Los Angeles has deliberately put itself in harm's way, Davis reveals how market-driven urbanization has for generations transgressed against environmental common sense. And he shows that the floods, fires, and earthquakes reaped by the city were tragedies as avoidable -- and unnatural -- as the beating of Rodney King and the ensuing explosion in the streets.