Louisiana Books

This single volume, though hefty, is comprehensive. It has references from A-Z of everything--theme, genre, place, person, or movement--related to the South. If you are curious about the South, the development of Southern Literature, or the history of the region, it's in this book. You will be amazed at the wealth of information contained in this reference.

The Companion is a massive (1000+ pp)encyclopaedic approach to Southern literature (and culture, though The Companion makes no explicit claims toward tackling that subject). It has articles on people and works among other things, each authored by a wide variety of modern scholars. There is a wonderful index and a table of contents that arranges entries by groups (including Themes, Language, Religion, Music, etc.). The Companion is as current as any book of this type can be; thus, while the Companion contains entries on the Internet and some contemporary authors, both of these entries are destined to be somewhat dated even before the book hit the presses. It is a useful volume for students of Southern Literature, though, as with any encyclopedia, it must be considered as first-stop. The Companion refers readers to other texts and doesn't pretend to exhaust the subject matter of any of its entries. The Companion should also find favor with teachers who include (or want to include) Southern authors in their classrooms. The Companion provides instructors with quick reference contexts for many works that might profitably be included in a classroom.

I was amazed at how helpful a guidebook can be! Having this book, made my trip to the Gulf South so much more enjoyable and meaningful. Not only does Ms. Bultman obviously know and understand this part of the country, but her enormously entertaining writting make the book a joy to read. I enjoyed the book so much that I am continueing to read it even after I returned home!

I picked up the new Compass American Guide: Gulf South to plan a trip to a warmer climate. Outside the snow was blowing, but I was swept up in the fun and informative narrative by Ms. Bultman and associates. I definately plan a Mardi Gras visit to New Orleans for next year, and D. Fran Morley's "Confessions of a Fairhope Transplant" made me want to pack up and move to her charming little town tomorrow! For now I'll have to settle for a visit but the hard part will be chosing a spot. Natchez and the River Road? Cajun country? Fairhope? From a practical point of view, the book's restaurant and hotel/motel listings are quite complete, and I love the fact that it really tells it like it is in regard to places NOT to visit. The Compass Guides are called "insider's guides," and that's really true here. It's like getting great tips from old friends who know a place inside and out.

I have been so delighted to find Rossetti's poetry. It is rare and delicious, I would recommend that anyone who loves poetry read it!

I have been so delighted to find Rossetti's poetry. It is rare and delicious, I would recommend that anyone who loves poetry read it!

This is a most worthy men-at-arms series; like the book's description says, it shows the much more colorful side to the uniforms of the Confederate Army. One man depicted in the color plates for Volume One that I found particularly interesting was a soldier in the Union Light Infantry, a SC unit based on the British Black Watch (42nd Royal Highlanders).
The plates are pretty much the highlight of this series, and show realistic looking soldiers surrounded by beautiful women and scenery, and baring all their various weapons. The text, nonetheless, reveals numerous interesting details. This is an excellent source on the uniforms and appearances of the soldiers of the Confederacy.

Osprey Publishing has issued Volume 5 of their popular book, The Confederate Army 1861-65. A part of their sprawling Men-at-Arms series (this is book #441 in that series), this one covers the uniforms and arms of troops from Tennessee and North Carolina. Written by Ron Field and lavishly illustrated with Richard Hook's watercolors, this book is a worthy addition to the Osprey family. Retailing for $15.95 here in the USA ($21 in Canada), the book has 48 pages, nearly all of them with period photographs or full color drawings.

The new book focuses on each state's antebellum militia and the hastily organized volunteer regiments that were pressed into Confederate service in the initial stages of the war. Using contemporary newspaper accounts, letters, state and local records, and early photographs, Ron Field presents an extensive array of early war military units, their uniforms and accoutrements, drawing heavily upon primary descriptions. He also takes a cursory, but interesting look at how the transition occurred from locally supplied clothing and equipment (which often varied widely from company to company) to state-issued regulation Confederate uniforms, particularly in North Carolina, where, by the end of the war, the term "ragged Rebel" would be made obsolete from the vast stores of supplies held by the state.



Field starts with Tennessee, looking at the outfitting of the militia and early volunteers in 1861, and examines the role various ladies aid societies played in clothing the soldiers of the Volunteer State. He then discusses the role of the state's Military and Financial Board in taking over the administration and logistics of supplying the troops. Field then shifts his focus to North Carolina, again discussing and characterizing the antebellum militia and contrasting them to how the state later took charge and made its forces appear more uniform in appearance. He also briefly compares winter clothing to summer issue for troops from both states.



The book includes a select bibliography for readers wanting to dive a little deeper into the outfitting of Confederate troops from Tennessee and North Carolina. The index is comprehensive, as is the discussion that accompanies the Richard Hook's illustrations. All in all, The Confederate Army 1861-85 (5) Tennessee and North Carolina (ISBN: 9781846031878) maintains the tradition of excellence we have come to expect from Osprey, and is well worth the modest investment.

Stand Watie's confederate Cherokees are widely known and little importance is generally attached to the particular story of John Drew's 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles. Thanks to Craig Gaines, the gap is filled. His book is precise, wonderfully detailed and his sources are remarkable. Henceforth, Craig Gaines' book is a must for all the buffs of the Civil War in Indian Territory.
Serge Noirsain, writer and historian, Brussels-Belgium.

Being of Cherokee decent and having been raised in the heart of the Cherokee nation, I was immediately intrigued when I saw this title. The mystery of the internal conflicts and relations within the Cherokee Nation has been an interest of mine ever since I was a child hearing the oral stories. The stories were confusing then, and after reading Gaines' book, I now have a better grasp of the situation that was responsible for tearing apart the land I was reared-in and the people who were rearing me. Gaines does an excellent job of researching a subject that has very few sources available, and his writing style is smooth and concise. This is a very dense book; the information is packed in tightly. However, for a book on regimental history, I found it an easy read full of insight into a nation that to this day is still divided on issues that plagued them before the Civil War.

I picked this book up years ago and of the some 50 cookbooks I own, this is the one I keep coming back to. If you've ever been to the Big Easy and indulged in New Orleans cuisine, you will find this book scrumptious. The recipes are typical Creole and Cajun French and simple. Corrinne's biscuits are a delight! You'll feast in culinary delights if you master these recipes of the Master Chefs of Nawlins, darlin'. If you buy this book, buy a scale. Good luck and Bon Appetite!

After returning from New Orleans this past year, I found that this book allowed me to recreate some to the delicious temptations that I was able to indulge in during my stay. I found the recipes easy to understand, and utterly delicious!

Creole Gumbo (makes 12 quarts = 48 servings, can be made in smaller batches)

Recipe below evolved and adapted for the beach from "Creole Gumbo and all that Jazz" by Howard Mitcham,who nails it far better than anyone in print. This book is highly recommended.

6 quarts chicken stock or water 6+ washed tomatoes 2+ lbs washed medium shrimp 12+ washed live crabs (essential, buy 18 before boarding ferry)

Bring stock to boil. All in same stock, boil tomatoes 1 minute, skin and seed. Boil shrimp 4 minutes, shell and fridge the meat. Boil live crabs 20 minutes. Eat some crab meat for lunch, return all crab parts, well crushed with shrimp shells, to same stock. Boil vigorously 15 minutes, no longer. Strain stock well e.g. through paper towels and colander.

stick butter flour bunch scallions 3+ onions 1+ heads of garlic 3+ red or green peppers 4+ sticks celery

Melt butter in heavy nonstick. Add flour bit by bit till thick slurry. Stir with spatula over med heat till deep tan or as dark as you dare, without burning. Add chopped veggies (chop garlic and onions at last minute) and saute till soft. Move to heavy gumbo pot if this wasn't it.

3 lbs okra, fresh or frozen 2+ lbs good ham 3 bay leaves bunch fresh thyme bunch parsley 2-3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1-3 tbsp tabasco sauce 1+ tbsp freshly ground black pepper 1/2 lb double smoked bacon 2+ lbs fresh Andouille sausage or similar hot sausage, or kielbasa

Add okra sliced into rounds, diced tomatoes, diced ham, thyme tied into bunch, minced parsley, bay, any meat you crave and have (chicken? beef browned in bacon fat?). Add enough stock to cover solids and keep sloppy. Add some Worcestershire, tabasco, pepper. Slice and cook bacon, crumble and add. Braise sausage in inch of water till ready to eat, poking with fork to release fat. Slice and save.

Simmer gumbo 2-4 hours, low enough and stirred often enough to never stick at bottom. Tasting over next few hours, remembering flavors will "cure" and salt gets added at end, gradually add more W,t,p to taste. Add sausage 30 minutes before serving, shrimp 10 minutes before serving, add any seafood you crave and have (oysters? lobster? crawfish tails?). Salt generously to taste, serve with ample cooked rice.

I have used this book fro over a decade and am about to order a fresh copy. It is a great read and a great, practical cookbook. I have used it constantly.

This was bought for a family member whose family had ties in Louisiana. She loved it. She already has several of Cable's books and was happy to get this one.

This is a fantastic book on Creoles, it is well researched and very enlightening. The word Creole means the original European natives of New Orleans, NOT light skinned African Americans, now I'm sure many light skinned blacks from New Orleans has Creole ancestry. The word has been eroneously used, when I tell people that my grandmother was of Creole and Austrian ancestry, they are like, wow, I did not know you were black..im like, uh, im not black, it's so annoying, and the media perpetuates the idea, that the word means any light skinned black person from Louisiana. Everyone in Louisiana should have to read this book in history class, then they could get educated on the word, and spread the information the the obtuse media. Highly recommended.

This is an excellent work of scholarship and is highly recommended to anyone interested in political philosophy. Professor Ryn draws on many sources, but most specifically ideas about the ethical life of the individual in relation to the community embodied in Aristotle's "Nichomachaen Ethics", Judeo-Christian morality, Edmund Burke's "Reflections on the French Revolution", the "Federalist Papers", and the moral, esthetic, and political philosophy found in the "New Humanism" of Irving Babbitt and Paul Elmer More. Ryn contrasts the egostical idealistic(i.e. unrealistic), and ethically distorted imagination of a Rousseau with the ethical and realistic imagination of a Burke, and shows how these differing worldviews lead to the contrasting and conflicting political visions of the utopian socialist(e.g.Robespierre, Lenin, et. al.) and the constitutional republican (e.g. Madison, Lincoln, et. al). To paraphase Madison, men are neither beasts nor angels. Beasts are incapable of government, and angels don't need government. Rousseau foolishly idealized a non-existent "natural man", while equally foolishly sanctioning bestial behavior by wrongly concluding that human evil was the result of social and economic oppression.

The individual who governs himself by attention to his "inner check" freely consents to constitutional government, with its checks and balances and concepts of ordered liberty, free market economy,federalism, and representative government as the best regime practicable for our diverse and pluralistic community.

To those who like this book I would also highly recommend Babbitt's "Rousseau and Romanticism", Thomas Sowell's "Conflict of Visions", Harry V. Jaffa's "Crisis of the House Divided", Pierre Manent's "City of Man", Nicholas Wolterstorff's "Thomas Reid and the Story of Epistemology" and Prof. Ralph Ketchum's excellent one volume biography of James Madison.

This book exlores in depth two main contending views of democracy. The authour shows them to be radically different and ultimately incompatible. The book relates the two forms to different notions of man and society. It defends American constitutionalism as an example of constitutional democracy and rejects "plebiscitary" democracy as destructive of the civilized society. Agree or disagree with the author's conclusion, this is a penetrating work with broad philosophical relevance--really makes yoy think!

The diary of a single, young Southern Belle who gives us glimpses of her life from before the Civil War, to when the fighting comes close to home and when they have to flee to the West. You experience her emotions and innermost thoughts.

Often overlooked, diaries are the primary source of women's history during the Civil War. Here this elite South Carolina woman documents her life, not for prosperity, but as the custom of her day, via her private diary. Poignant and enjoyable to read, Emma carries through this time of war with the true dignity of Southern womanhood. Excellent social history of the daily life of a Southern woman. Thank you for bringing this wonderful diary to light. Joy Melcher, Civil War Lady Magazine