The World That Made New Orleans
From Spanish Silver to Congo Square

Ok, don't get me wrong. In many places this book is very dry. Mainly it focuses on the colonial history of New Orleans, which is to say he spends a lot of time detailing movements by the French and Spanish royalty. Still New Orleans has a pretty crazy history and it makes for pretty entertaining rea......more

The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square [2008] – ★★★★★ The World That Made New Orleans is a fascinating book that traces the history of New Orleans, Louisiana, from around 1492 to the nineteenth century: from the city’s humble beginnings on swamp soils to the French Spani......more

Not quite what I was expecting (far more about music and slavery than I thought totally necessary) and at times boring enough that I wanted to skim, but still a really interesting book about a time and place in history that isn't explored often enough.......more

Ned Sublette is a musician and co-founder of the NPR musical program "Afro-Pop." As such, he brings a different perspective to this history of early New Orleans. His focus is on the French and Spanish Colonial years and just the first 20 years of United States possession. He also outlines the connec......more

This was a pretty cool book. Very eclectic. Basically, it's a history of New Orleans from its earliest days as a Spanish possesion up through the Louisiana Purchase, ending in 1819. The basic thesis of the book is that the three distinct colonial powers that held New Orleans brought different slave c......more