Unravels the secret political history of disaster, real and imaginary, in southern California. As Davis surveys the earthquakes of Santa Monica, the burning of Koreatown, and the invasion of "man-eating" mountain lions, he exposes the deep complicity between social injustice and perceptions of natural disorder. Los Angeles, Davis argues, has deliberately put itself in harm's way. And he shows that the floods, fires, and earthquakes that the city has reaped were tragedies as avoidable--and unnatural--as the beating of Rodney King and the ensuing explosion in the streets.