Dark Side of Fortune: Triumph and Scandal in the Life of Oil Tycoon Edward L. Doheny

I considered a five star rating for this book because it is not four stars. It is definitely FIVE stars.Those of us who grew up in Los Angeles eventually get very curious about the early days of the city. We also get curious about the early achiements of the folks who were in LA in the days before automobiles and planes and crowds. To get to meet one of those people who actually found oil in downtown Los Angeles is more entertaining than all the movies of Hollywood put together. The story of Edward Lawrence Doheny and his first wife and little daughter makes better reading than all the soap operas put together. Then if you add the death of his only son, you have more material than the best screen writers can create from their collective minds. Now add the story of his mansion on Chester Place and throw in the mansion on Doheny Road in Beverly Hills and stir it up with the story of his son's murderer and you have compelling stories exploding in your mind like no other resource. Doheny made Doheny State Park available to all of us and he even built the Beachcomber's Club where I was a lifeguard when I was just 16 years old. I learned to surf on Doheny State Beach and today I run tour groups through his life in Los Angeles. Doheny has connected with me in more ways than 50. He is my alter ego if not my biggest inspiration for more and more knowledge. Thank goodness I have found this book entitled DARK SIDE OF FORTUNE. It has enriched my lectures and made me one of the best story tellers of LA history. I am delirous and so proud to have this abundant knowledge in my repertoire.Yes, I give this book FIVE STARS without hesitation.Robin D. WilliamsCalifornia Tour [email protected] (Email address)

This is a very thorough Doheny family history pieced together from long lost family archives, photos, court transcripts, etc. Very interesting to me since I spent many hours studying in the Doheny library at USC as an undergraduate there. The tragic story surrounding its dedication seldom mentioned, and now largely forgotten by current generations. This is a great companion book to read in conjunction w/ other titles about Don Benito (Benjamin) Wilson (first mayor of LA) and Frederick Rindge (The King and Queen of Malibu).

This book chronicles the rise of Edward Doheny who was an oil tycoon much wealthier than John D. Rockefeller. Based in California, Doheny almost single handedly created the national and international markets for oil which started out with his discovery of crude in what is now downtown Los Angeles.Unfortunately for Doheny and his family, he never had enough oil wells despite owning thousands of acres of oil rich land in the U.S. and Mexico. The greed for oil led to the Teapot Dome scandal of the Harding administration which ultimately led to the death of Doheny's only son and the suicide of the son's partner in the mansion that oil built--Greystone in Beverly Hills.The book is well researched and the timeliness of it is as significant today as the story was from 1905 to the 1930's.The best part of the book is that it is rich in anecdotes not only about Doheny and his son, but also about his second wife who became an important rare book collector when Doheny's health declined. Her collection was auctioned off to benefit the Catholic Church and that story alone deserves the writing of another book.

Living inn Southern California the name Dohney is well known. This volume provides a more complete picture of this gentlemen, the times and the seemingly different characters and character of people, in "The West" and in "Washington". Well worth the time to read and study it via this text.

Fall appears as a rational and honest man in this appraisal of his career. Maybe someone who amassed such a fortune did many great things with his money, such as paying thousands of peons in Veracruz to work his oil fields and maybe his oil fueled the ships hat supplied the Alllies in WWI, but his greed for the Naval Oil Reserves revealed his more basic nature. It's too bad Doheny's wife burned his papers.

As a native of Los Angeles and graduate of USC (where the Doheny Library is located) I found "Dark Side of Fortune"to be very detailed, well-researched and informative. I knew two others who lived on Chester Place where the Doheny Mansion is located. The background about Teapot Dome, Albert Fall and E.L. Doheny was the most detailed and thorough I've ever read.

After touring the Greystone Manor, I wanted to learn more about the family. This book answered my questions and made that tour more meaningful.

Very well researched and written. Captures the drama, including family tragedies, of this largely unknown oil tycoon.