University of Chicago Press · November 30, 2026
Visions of the SouthlandA Year in Los Angeles County
University of Chicago Press · November 30, 2026
Experience a year in Los Angeles County, in all its glitter and grit, through a unique anthology that pairs essays by acclaimed writers and historians with custom maps.
When many of us picture Los Angeles, we’re actually thinking of LA County. Home to roughly ten million people, the county alone is more populous than forty-two US states. Its eighty-eight cities include places made famous by Hollywood glamor and California dreaming—Beverly Hills, Malibu, and Santa Monica—but also working-class municipalities and the self-explanatory City of Industry. With a territory that includes the Pacific coastline, mountain ranges, and the high Mojave Desert, the county’s landscapes have been touched by earthquakes, droughts, and, of course, devastating fires. LA County is a place of extremes: progress and injustice, innovation and stagnation.
Visions of the Southland collects essays by writers, journalists, and historians to create a nuanced portrait of LA that’s grounded in the county itself—its sites, structures, and stories. A custom map by Ezra Rawitsch enriches each piece and grounds the reader in specific locations throughout the county. Unfolding over the course of a year, the book traces the rhythms of politics, sports, weather, and wildlife across this sprawling and enigmatic place.
“Vivid in detail and as wide in scope as a Hollywood epic, this collection of essays brilliantly evokes the atmospheres, landscapes, communities, and people of a city and a county that is nearly a nation itself… an essential guide for anyone looking to understand the history and restless energy of an ever-changing metropolis.”
D. J. Waldieauthor of Elements of Los Angeles
“The problem is not just that the world doesn’t understand Los Angeles. The problem is that Los Angeles doesn’t know itself. Visions of the Southland should put an end to that, explaining who we are and how we survive, from the sky to the underground water and oil infrastructure under Huntington Park. The LA book that we’ve always needed has arrived.”
Joe Mathewspublisher & columnist, Democracy Local
“A kaleidoscopic overview of Los Angeles County that captures the city in all its sunshine and shadow, from beaches, taco stands, and the art scene to jails, pollution, and the porn industry. Essential reading for newcomers to LA and longtime Angelenos alike.”
Karl Jacobyauthor of Shadows at Dawn
“Visions of the Southland takes that vastness seriously, braiding maps and essays into a captivating portrait of a place that has done more than any other to pioneer the American (sub)urban dream… revealing the vexing soul of the Southland.”
Pamela Prickettauthor of Believing in South Central
Contributors delve into the places and subjects that make LA County a world unto itself.
Unfolding over the course of a year — its seasons, its rhythms — grounded in custom maps drawn for every chapter.
with maps by Ezra Rawitsch
Co-editor
Writer, historian, and landscape designer based in Los Angeles. Author of Dream Cities, Braided Waters, and American Eden; his work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, and the Los Angeles Times, and he writes the Substacks The Extended Field and Learning from Los Angeles.
Co-editor
Codirector of the Huntington–USC Institute on California and the West and professor of history at the University of Southern California. Author of Whitewashed Adobe and coeditor of Metropolis in the Making and Land of Sunshine, among others.
A map grounds each essay in the County’s rivers and faults, its fires and freeways, and unseen patterns made visible.
Publishing November 30, 2026 from the University of Chicago Press.
Ask your local library to order a copy, too.