Louisiana Books

After eating at this restaurant in New Orleans recently and seeing the book on the bar I wanted to purchase it. By ordering off of Amazon I got it for $10 less. It is a beautiful book with excellent pictures (many old) from the restaurant plus all the great recipes.

During my last visit to New Orleans my new bride and I became engaged at Arnaud's over a meal that celebrated our happiness. We use Arnaud's Cookbook to make our special occasion meals and when we entertain. The Trout Meuniere and other amazing recipes bring back those memories along with the lavishly photographed restaurant and dishes. The stories and history that accompany it make it special reading, and we keep it prominently displayed on our coffee table. When most cookbooks don't show the finished dish, this one is chock full of delicious pictures to inspire. It you have never been to New Orleans, it will give you a taste and a real feeling of an amazing city.

I enjoyed reading this book...have yet to make a recipe from it...I have some Cajun recipes written on paper from friends and each time I wan't to make something Nola...I keep returning to the tried and true.

A June visit to New Orleans, with dinner at Arnaud's, inspired the purchase of this cookbook. The book more than exceeded my expectations, with interesting anecdotes, beautiful photographs and doable, delicious recipes. The only thing missing is the recipe for the distinctive remoulade sauce they use for Shrimp Arnaud, a great favorite. However, they do sell the sauce so all is not lost. This cookbook is the next best thing to actually going to the restaurant, and offers some truly original recipes.

Arnaud's Restaurant is well known for its leadership in New Orleans cuisine, holding roots from 1918 to modern times and establishing a solid reputation for presenting Creole foods to customers around the world. Now you can enjoy many of these signature dishes at home with Arnaud's Restaurant Cookbook: New Orleans Legendary Creole Cuisine. Each recipe has been adapted for use in home kitchens, translating large-volume and complicated restaurant fare to home cooking. The resulting Creole dishes are very easy to work with - especially given the numerous full-page color photos throughout.

The Lost Cause Tradition revolves around Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. Most of books written on Civil War history are about battles that occur in the Eastern Theater. This was the case during the war and has not improved in the years since. If the Confederacy had a chance to win, if they had heroic figures they were in the battles and leaders of the AoNV. From 1861 to the end of the war, a second army fought and died for the South. These men gave as much as the men in the East without inspiring leadership. Time after time, they saw victory taken from them. Often they endured forced marches to save themselves only to repeat the cycle of defeat. Their story is largely ignored or told as the "other army" in histories of Union armies. The was the Confederate States of America's Army of Tennessee, brave men badly lead who saw the war through.
Army of the Heartland, first published in 1967, is the history of the building the army. Isham Harris, the CSA governor of Tennessee delivers an army to hold his state. Jefferson Davis sent Albert Sidney Johnston, his best general, to lead it. However, the army was not much more than an unarmed semi drilled mob. Johnston was unequal to the task and Leonidas Polk demonstrated a willingness to do his own thing. Facing them was an unknown Union General named U.S. Grant. This is the story of Grant's move to Corinth Mississippi as seen by the army he defeated. After Johnston's death, Braxton Bragg assumes command. Bragg is a close personal friend of Jeff Davis, who has great confidence in him. However, Davis is even closer to Leonidas Polk and has great confidence in William J. Hardee. Add in an endemic of "Kentucky Fever" and we have the Perryville Campaign.
Autumn of Glory, published in 1971, takes us from Perryville to Nashville. While the AoT still existed after Nashville, it was no longer an army. The author covers this time but rightly considers the survivors to be more a collection of veteran units than an army. This is the years when they fight and lose central Tennessee under Bragg. The Georgia campaign under Joe Johnston and the return home under Hood. 1862 to 1865 are the years of the big battles and the political infighting that paralyze this army. No American army was ever as poorly lead or suffered government indifference on this scale. Richmond was paralyzed unable to choose between pro and anti Bragg factions. Unable to consider removing either faction, Davis dithered, as Tennessee was lost. This is a hard book to read as the army is doubly damned for not winning and for losing its' supply base. In the end, John Bell Hood leads this army to death in the largest charge of the war at Franklin and destruction at Nashville.
Connelly wrote these books years ago. The maps are not great and they are not highly detailed. They are one of the most readable army histories ever written. Classic is a very over used word and one we see often. This is one of the few times that it applies and should be used. On publication, these were seen to be special and needed books. That has not changed and shows no sign of changing. The only improvement would be to publish them as one book. You can do that with a single purchase and reading one after the other. Enjoy them; they are a great and informative read.

This book is not for beginners. You definitely need to have a working knowledge of the battles that the Army of Tennessee was engaged in.

The focus is on the political and ego wranglings between Bragg (later Johnston and Hood) and his staff, and then the wranglings with Richmond and key political figures.

In other words, you don't get a lot of such and such regiment moved here and such and such regiment moved there. It is more a critique of the leadership decisions. There are some battle details, but you're best off having a good understanding before you undertake this book.

The treatment is very fair to Bragg, I felt overly so, but Connely does back up his opinions. He comes down on Johnston and Hood for lack of a clear plan.

This is not a book about the overall war in the west. Just as the title says, it's specifically about the AOT. You hardly ever hear about Vicksburg, Mobile, Iuka, etc. other than to note troop concentrations and shufflings.

In short, an excellent read for the more advanced civil war student. I'll confess I probably read this and Army of the Heartland a little prematurely and much of the information went over my head. I will re-read once I feel up to par with the high quality level of information.

The merits of this volume are well documented. Connelly's research is excellent, and his judgments are sound. His prose, however, is as dry as a parched north Georgia dirt road during a June draught. This is, to a certain extent, to be expected, as most military history written during the late 1960s and 1970s tends to be dusty and academic. However, Connelly's descriptions of unit movements, particularly before Chickamauga, make for difficult reading, in part due to the volume's lack of good maps. But, again, this is a fault shared with lots of academic military history, and has more to do with publishing concerns and limitations than anything else, one imagines. So read this with a good set of maps at your side. Also, for a different prose style, one may wish to read this volume along with Stanley F. Horn's older book.

Caveats aside, the book is worth four stars for its discussions of Confederate command disputes and problems. But the reader who skips the campaign recaps and unit movements can be forgiven. And remember, the Polks, Braggs and Hoods were just symptoms--the disease was Jeff Davis.

The author picks up where he left off in, Army of the Heartland: The Army of Tennessee, 1861-1862. This volume begins in 1862 and closes with the surrender of the army in April, 1865.
If your interested in the War Between the States (Civil War) in the Western Theatre and the primary Confederate army of the West then this is a must read. Both of my great-great grandfathers served in the Army of Tennessee so this was particularly interesting to me.
The book deals primarly with the political issues between army commanders and Richmond. It is unfortunate that there was so much jealousy and grudges between all parties as this servely effected the objectives of the army. The Army of Tennessee didn't have a General Lee.
Campaigns and battles are analyzed. There is not lengthy discussion of the battles as this is not in the scope of the book. I found it very helpful to have the campaigns and battles laid in order. I have read books describing the diffferent battles but a more complete understanding of why and how the battles came about is accomplished in reading this book first. After this book, read accounts of the battles of the army from other sources.
There could more detailed maps included. However, this is informative and excellent historical reading.

Since other reviewers have covered the contexts of this monumental book in detail, I guess I'll have to be content just to list a few of the most important ideas that I learned from reading it. 1) The whole command structure of the Confederate army in the West from Davis down, was ineffective, nearly hopeless, and this book chronicles its sad demise about as well as it can be chronicled. 2)Bragg, who got reasonably high grades for his impressive but ultimately pointless invasion of Kentucky, becomes a pathetic, bitter general in charge of a nearly mutinous army. The fact that Davis could not or would not replace him until after Chattanooga says volumes as to why the South ultimately lost the war. 3)Joe Johnston, who I always rather admired, becomes The General Who Always Ran Away. And Connelly proves it. Talk about a change of attitude. He also gets alot of the blame for failing to relieve Vicksburg. 4) The famous cavalry commanders like Wheeler, Hunt, and Forrest did little to nothing to stop Sherman from marching on Atlanta and are therefore completely overrated, despite their often specacular tactical successes. If you have to read one book on the Confederate effort in West, read this one. It's eye opening.

I have had this book for years and also the Best of the Best from Louisiana II. This is a great book (and set) to own. I have many friends out of state and out of the country and I always use this book for personal gifts. Everyone is always thrilled to receive it. I live outside of New Orleans proper and the recipes are authentic and delicious, a great combination of most of the best recipes of the state. This book is truly the Best of the Best!

Although I haven't cooked any of the meals from this book I can't wait to try them. They all look delicious and easy to make. Definately worth the cost plus some!!

Excellent collection of real recipes from real locals. Captures timeless flavors. Straight format of recipes makes reading and reference very handy. The title is true.

All the recipes I've tried from this cookbook have been great.

I've had this cookbook for 2 years now and have tried many of its recipies...They are SO GOOD! This cookbook gives a wonderful variety from many southern references of traditional and some contemporary creations. This is the most used cookbook I own. Really great!!

WE ARE FORTUNATE AS AMERICANS TO HAVE A NUMBER OF INTERESTING POLITICIANS IN OUR SHORT HISTORY. bRECKENRIDGE IS NO EXCEPTION. DAVIS HAS WRITTEN MANY BGOOKS ON THIS ERA OF OUR LIFE AND THIS IS MATCHED ONLY BY JEFFERSON DAVIS AS A WORTHWHILE BOOK TO READ AND ABSORB. THE AUTHOR TAKES US THROUGH BRECKENRIDGE'S LIFE THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STATESMAN WHO TOPS HIS CAREER AS AS VP OF AMERICA IN THE DARKEST HOUR TO A PATRIOT WHO CHOOSES AS SO MANY OTHERS TO FOLLOW HIS STATE AND TAKE UP ARMS FOR THE SOUTH. WE SEE THE MAN, NOT JUST THE POLITICIAN/SOLDIER IN THIS BIOGRAPHY. IT IS NOT BY ACCIDENT THAT SO MANY HISTORIANS AHVE CITED AND QUOTED THIS VOLUME IN THEIR OWN WORKS. iF YOU DON'T HAVE THIS BOOK, GET IT.

As William Davis explains in the book's introduction, in the mid-1960s, while researching the Battle of New Market in BATTLES AND LEADERS, he came across information regarding John C. Breckinridge, the most interesting being that he had been vice-president of the country under Buchanan. "What could have induced a man who had been vice-president . . . to turn and fight against his own country?" He spent the next nine years not only attempting to answer that question, but compiling the information needed to put together the "thorough biography" Breckinridge "deserved." It's a magnificent achievement.

Right off the bat he corrects a mistake that has lingered in historical sketches of Breckinridge, and that is his birthdate: he was born on January 16, 1821 (not the 21st), and it was "in" Lexington, KY (not "near" it). After attending what is today's Princeton University and studying law in Lexington, he was admitted to the bar in 1841. In 1847 he went to Mexico at the head of a force of Kentucky volunteers, but arrived too late to see any action in the Mexican War. After serving two years in the Kentucky state legislature, he was elected to Congress, 1851-55. He was nominated as vice-president with James Buchanan on the Democratic ticket, and his conduct as presiding officer of the Senate (being able especially to put aside his own pro-slavery beliefs for the good of the body elect) has been praised by contemporaries and historians alike.

When the Southern Democrats broke with the national party in protest over the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, they nominated Breckinridge as president. He was able to garner 72 electoral votes in the election, effectively splitting the Democratic party enabling Lincoln to take the presidency. Returning to the Senate (so popular was he in KY that he was elected Senator of the state in 1859, even though he would've been unable to take office until 1861), he tried to keep his home state neutral while at the same time opposing Lincoln. But by September all seemed lost, and he abandoned his Senate seat for the Confederacy.

Commissioned a brigadier general, Breckinridge first saw action at Shiloh and then at Vicksburg. In August 1862 he was promoted to major general and was with Bragg at Stones River and Joseph E. Johnston at Jackson, MS. Later engagements included Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and a number of actions in the Shenandoah Valley and Virginia. He commanded the Department of Southwest Virginia at the end of 1864 and saw action at Nashville. He was appointed Jefferson Davis's secretary of war in 1865, and when he was captured by Sherman's forces while escaping with Davis to the South after Lee's surrender, Sherman advised him to leave the country for his own safety. He did, going first to Cuba and then to Europe. He expressed a strong desire to return to America, however, and in 1868 a pardon was granted after which he re-established himself (and his law practice) in Lexington, where he died in 1875.

The "symbol" referred to in the title I think is best applied to what Breckinridge represented after the war: he wanted the country more than anything to move on beyond the differences and hatreds fostered by the War; for himself, he said he regretted joining the Confederacy, though was proud of his service there. Upon his death he was mourned by the entire country.

Davis's biography is among the best ever written, not only of a Civil War figure, but of anyone in the country. He writes with great authority and magnificent style, and the pleasure one gets in reading him is almost beyond measure. It's a long, thorough book, but always fascinating, always engaging. Highly recommended.

Excellent biography of one of the most interesting men in the US Civil War. From a political star as Vice President and Presidential Candidate against Lincoln, Brekinridge typlifies the great split in our country. Dutiful and professional serving as VP to the virtual end of his term he leaves as a vagabond due to his southern sympathies. Brekinridge served as a Confederate General during the war and ended it as perhaps the most proficient Secretary of War that the south had. Davis covers Breckinridge's rise as the succesor to the great Henry Clay. When the crisis of civil war looms, he is reaching his zenith as a political star. In an almost sad despair, he leaves to fight for the south as his border state home Kentucky remains in the Union. Breckinridge is a great subject of the war as he serves in both the western theater and the east as well and as a succesful independent commander in southwestern VA. Davis captures Breckinridges life throughout the war with great detail such as when his division is severly punished at Stones River under Bragg who in turn accusses Breckinridge unfairly of incompetence and drink. But Breckinridge thives later as an independent commander in an undermaned and threatened theater of southwestern VA. He consolidates his troops and wins one of the souths last great, although small, battles at New Market that is forever associated with the valor of the VMI cadets who supported the final charge. Breckinridge later serves wiith Lee at Cold harbor and throughout the overland campaign. But as the author Davis carries you through Breckinridge's career, you become a witness to the south's final destruction as Breckinridge is the Scretary of War during the final months of the Confederacy. Aside from closely associating with Lee, Breckinridge is with the Confederate government that flees Richmond. Breckinridge, with loyalty but with objectivity, tries to steer Davis into the realization that the war is doomed. While Davis is in flight, Breckinridge stays with Joe Johnston and helps negotiate terms that Stanton felt were so generous he publicly embarrased Sherman causing Sherman's return for a new surrender. With this biography, the author provides you an inside view of the sadness the war has on a leader who does seem caught in the middle and who is involved in both the military and political situation. Breckinridge was in the center of the military and the government throughout the last year to its final collapse. An excellent biography that bridges you to many of Davis' other books such as the Battle of New Market, his Davis Biography, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government and the Orphan Brigade.

I love this book. It really gives an in depth view of John, who I want to mention is my great great uncle. I loved seeing his life through someone else's view point. It paints him in a very graphic way, very colorful. Davis doesnt shy away from writing the truth. Very great book.

John C. Breckinridge was one of the most notable politicians of the 1850's, a confederate general serving in all theaters of the war, and a member of Jefferson Davis cabinet, playing a key role in negotiating the terms of surrender.

It is not too much to say that an examination of this one life can throught new clarifying light virtually all issues relating to the Civil War. From the Compromise of 1850, to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, to the Lecompton covention and the Dred Scott decision, the split of the Democratic convention in 1860, to the move toward secession, to the last ditch efforts for peaceful reconciliation, to the war itself, to the surrender of the armies of Northern Virginia and Tennessee, to the immediate aftermath Breckinridge was there frequently as a major player.

However, as much light as Breckinridge throws on these various issues, there are aspects about his career that remains troubling. While Davis protrays Breckinridge as a unionist and personally opposed to slavery, Breckinridge *continually* sides with the pro-slavery contingent in Congress. Whether it's Dred Scott, or Lecompton, or running on a rival "southern rights" platform to Douglas, Breckinridge is unerringly on the pro-slavery side. Breckinridge (and Davis) always have a reason (or an excuse) for a given position, but the overall pattern is clear. In the final analysis, it may have been Breckinridge's devotion to the "right of property" as being *absolute* and hence even *above* the constitution.

In any case Breckinridge's finest hour comes in the twilight of the confederacy when he serves briefly but effectively as Secretary of War and going behind Jeff Davis's back , who is border line delusional at this point, to negotiate with Lee and Johnston a plan of surrender to the Union. This story is one that Davis tells more fully in his HONORABLE DEFEAT and it cannot be understated that Breckinridge prevented the Confederacy from decending into guerilla warfare and banditry that would have lingered for years if not decades.

Also in the aftermath, Breckinridge takes principled stand in favor of accepting negro testimony in court and against the Ku Klux Kan in Kentucky. Toward the very end, his participation in the Lee memorial in Lexington KY throught light on the emergence of the "Lost Cause" mythology as Jubal Early will set up a competiting memorial in Lexington VA. (This smacks of different apparitions of the madonna during the Mexican revolution with the rebel adopting the lady of Guadalupe, while the government forces adopt Pilar.)

Finally this book, it has to be remembered that this book was written 30 years ago and while it's still valuable a lot has been published on the Army of Tennesee (particularly Pat Cleburn) and on the southern Unionists during the secession crisis. I think a revised edition that could take these recent developments into account would be valuable.

In this slender volume, justly hailed as a wonder by several reviewers, Judy Jordan crafts the most beautiful, thought-provoking and elegiac poetry out of the less promising circumstances - poverty, alcoholism, murder and death - and gives us lines we aren't likely to forget.

I came upon this book by pure chance, and I'm happy I did. Despite her often dismal subject matter, Judy Jordan is a joy to read. Get the book now, thank me later!

Judy Jordan, Carolina Ghost Woods (Louisiana State University Press, 2000)

Judy Jordan writes dense, exquisite poems that both shock and satisfy, while making you feel vaguely like taking a shower afterwards.

"...it informs the toads,
crouches them in crooked caves of alder roots,
pulses the pale skin under their slack mouths,
keeps them in the pond's tight waves clutching anything:
a pine's resinous knot, a fist of chair foam,
even a drowned and legless female."
("Long Drop to Black Water")

I loved this book; very easy to see why it won the National Book Critics' Circle Awards, though I have to admit I'm somewhat surprised that they received such heavy subject matter with such aplomb. This one's definitely a keeper. ****

I pulled Judy Jordan's "Carolina Ghost Woods" off my bookshelf again tonight. It's a cold and clear here in the deep south and Jordan's poetry called to me in the wind. "Carolina Ghost Woods" was first published in 1996 by Louisiana State University Press, and Jordan writes that she submitted this book for three years as a "first book" before it was awarded the Walt Whitman Award in 1999. The first poem, "Sharecropper's Grave" sets the tone:

The night is hoot owls, wind-whistled flue, babies bundled in burlap.
Breath of another child, mid-gasp.

The alliteration causes the reader to shiver in the cold and continues throughout this poem:

Small holes, secret graves,
children scattered around the iron fence.
Not even a scratched stone. . .
The night full of cries they will never make.
To read the title poem,"Carolina Ghost Woods" is to travel into the mythos of the south, to hear what the dead whisper,
When the leaves shudder to the muddy ground
and snow under the gutters puddles red,
when the bird lifts, the rabbit shivers in clumped grass
and the fox shrinks into the bramble,
when the shadow crosses the pitchfork's broken handle
and the hinges of the shed door rust,
let me believe someone is there.

Each poem in the book reveals another story from Judy Jordan's life. They are woven together to bring the reader through the death of her mother and the violence of being on the streets, homeless. Ms. Jordan joins the reader in this journey with her breath and voice and we walk the ghost woods together.

Buy the book and settle down with a fire in the fireplace and the lights dim, read "Caroline Ghost Woods" from start to finish . . . you won't regret it.

As a creative writing student at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale I was immediately fascinated with the program's newest addition. Already the school boasted the great Rodney Jones. And I began reading SIUC's newest professor/poet Judy Jordan. After several readings, I am still amazed. Whether it be the remarkable, pain-staking craft or the soul-drenching childhood and early adulthood that she narrates with such originality and heart-thrashing grief, Jordan simply takes your breath away.

This collection, unbelievably a debut, doesn't just grip the reader with it's wrenching family tragedies. The music, sounds, carefully sought words (both for sound, connotation and meaning) and an ambition leaning towards the transcendent makes for a potent statement.

Currently, I am enrolled in a poetry course with Ms. Jordan. Let this not be a bias in my review. I admit am unabashedly biased towards male poets. For whatever reason, I can see through the eyes of a Rodney Jones or a James Wright easier. However, Jordan's book truly strikes a chord with me. It doesn't beg for pity. It doesn't make the predictable turns. It endeavors for something more. In addition to pain, guilt and embarassment, it finds joy, hope and transcendence in this person's impoverished, tragic past. It bears minor resemblances to the work of her former teacher, Charles Wright, as well as carrying influences of poets she's worked around in the past: namely James Kimbrell and Donald Platt. But as their style is of their own, so is hers'. And Jordan's ability at true poetic craft, rhapsodic forms and ear for human dilemma is more than original, it is ground-breaking.

During a time when poetry's popularity is at an all-time low, fresh work from the likes of Jordan and Kimbrell are keeping the medium alive. There is something very spiritual in this movement. I only hope, that when my time comes, I can be a part of it.

While it's true that Jordan's technique seems a bit thick with "borrowings" from Charles Wright, her actual material (and her treatment of it) is wildly original. This book is shocking, heart-wrenching and, at times, almost unbearably beautiful. An urgent and necessary voice.

Great book! I enjoyed every chapter. It not only let's you smell the roses from your childhood since I lived in Polk County Florida during these times, but it definitely lets you smell the orange blossoms!

I went to High School with Bobby. This is a great book of the small town of Auburndale, Fl. It's fun reading. I can assure you that you will laugh a lot if you put yourself in his shoes.
I recommend it highly.

Although just a bit younger, being from "Inwood" between A-dale and Winter Haven, I know/knew some of the people mentioned in the book. I also have some of the same memories growing up in the area. I went to Winter Haven High School because back then we had a choice. Today I would be going to A-Dale High. I enjoyed the book very much. I don't think Bobby Braddock and I ever met but we do share friends and what it was like grow up back then. It is a time gone for good and that is tough to face sometimes. We had quite a few talented people in music come from Auburndale and Winter Haven.

I was on TV once, flogging a book, when the interviewer, a Terry Splendid-looking mannequin of a guy who could read without moving his eyes but not without moving his lips, got the 30-seconds-and-counting signal from the control room. "We're about out of time, Mr. Adams," he said, hefting my 700-page book as if he were guessing the weight of a hooked mackerel. "This is quite a tome you've created. Could you tell us, in a few words, what you were trying to say in it?"

The answer came to me in a split second, like lightning from the night sky, and I threw it straight to Terry quicker than a baked potato from the oven: "I was trying to say, in three or four hundred thousand words, what a great songwriter named Bobby Braddock typically gets said in three or four hundred. A beginning, a middle, an end. A story, a narrative about original sin."

The red light on Camera 1 was blinking. "That's all our time, folks, see you tomorrow!" Splendid's image vanished from the monitor, to be replaced in an instant by a commercial about Rolaids. Terry and I both looked like we could have used a couple.

Those of us who write long for a living are filled with envy for the likes of Bobby Braddock, the masters of writing short. And so it is with green-eyed admiration that I report the recent arrival of Down in Orburndale, a finely paced, 271-page, growing-up-Southern memoir by--you guessed it--Bobby Braddock, the quiet man behind the words and music of some of George Jones and Tammy Wynette's greatest hits.

If I could write songs half as well as Braddock writes books--this first one, at least--I wouldn't have to worry about my obscurity in the field of long prose. I'd be rolling in clover. The boy from post-World War II Auburndale, Florida, has got the knack, short and long. This book is a confessional of lessons learned from a fully-spent youth, remembered with humor, pain and unflinching honesty.

Bobby Braddock has written an exceptional book -- a portrait of an artist as a young man, if you will. So much honesty about a part of America that is gone. So much honesty about a boy who grew up there and would go on to become one of America's great songwriters. He sees the humor of his darkest moments, and I'm still laughing just thinking about those moments. The book ends just before he makes his fateful journey to Nashville, and fame and fortune. I can't wait to read the sequel. If braddock the bumbling, stumbling boy-to-man is such a hoot, then Braddock in the weird wild world of the Nashville Music bizz is bound to be a classic!

I have read hundreds of Civil War books, and to my mind the best are the ones where the author weaves a narrative told by those who were there. This is such a book. Mayeux not only gets us closely in touch with the strategic and tactical issues in central Louisiana (and connects them to larger issues) but excells in putting you in the shoes of General and private (and sailor), citizen and slave and lets you see the story through their eyes. By the end of the book, you really want to know how their lives went after the war...and he thoughtfully weaves that in at the end. I was sorry to reach the end of the book. My faith is renewed that real ground level history, always a compromise of competing eye witnesses, can be done through serious digging and thorough analysis. But you still have to tell a great story - and here it is. Steve Mayeux makes you stand up and cheer the story of the side show on the Red River, and especially those Americans north and south, who lived it. Well done!!

The author, with local and family roots, covers Fort DeRussy from construction to destruction and current efforts to preserve and maintain the site. There is in-depth background on the fort, the area around it, and its role in the Red River campaign of Banks and Porter against the Confederacy. Excellent commentary on the role of cotton and its confiscation for the North's war effort, on the local black and white population's involvement with the Fort, on naval aspects of the Western theater - all increase knowledge of the scope of the Civil War.

This is must read for Louisiana Civil War History. Mayeux is an excellent story teller who makes the history of Fort DeRussy come to life

A unique book about a little known place that was extremely important in 1863 and 1864. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Red River Campaign, the Civil War in Louisiana or the Trans Mississippi Theater. Fort DeRussy seldom merits mention is most accounts of the Civil War. This book was not a rehash of old material. The author is able to draw on a wealth of local information as well as primary and secondary sources. Steve Mayeux gives us the story of the fort which was supposed to defend the Red River Valley from Union gunboats from its beginning to the end of the War. It captured the Queen of the West, provided troops to man the boats that captured the Indianola and defeated another gunboat attack before falling to a Union army that captured the fort without naval assistance. Fort DeRussy then served as an important Union station during the disastrous Red River campaign. I liked the author's easy folksy style, including his personal feeling and experiences in the text and footnotes. I also appreciated the footnotes on the page for easy access. It is in the footnotes that we discover more and more about how his ancestors owned the land, his great grandmother was born there just before the union army arrived and how he and others worked to restore the fort and have it protected as a Louisiana State Park.

As a native of Avoyelles Parish, Steve Mayeux really has one leg up when it comes to the study of the Civil War in Central Louisiana. As such, he was able to provide details that another historian might well miss. Leaving no stones unturned he researched such obscure sources as articles appearing in the "Marksville Pelican", a local newspaper that was published contemporaneously with the events as they were occuring, as well as the observations of the Mother Superior of the Daughters of the Cross, whose letters, written in French back to her family, but translated and published by Avoyelles teacher Sister Dorothea McCants, shed great light on what it was like to have actually lived during the Civil War years in Avoyelles. Such first person accounts bring great life to the reconstruction of this moment in history. For those of you whose eyes glaze over at the thought of another book filled with complicated analyses of battle strategies and "dry as a bone" statistical studies, be advised that this book is NOT in that genre. Mayeux has truly captured the "soul" of this conflict. It is significant, no doubt, that the author, whose family has lived in the parish for generations, has a deep connection, both emotional and familial, to the events and people portrayed in this book. Mayeux spent years doing an incredible amount of research on both the Union and Confederate sides, as well as countless hours and dollars spearheading the effort to preserve the Fort DeRussy Historical Site. But what sets this book apart from so many others is that it was written from the heart by a man whose ancestors lived and died in the context of this very story.

One of our all time favorites, along with the sequel: Feliciana Meets d'Loup Garou. We took these books out of the library repeatedly when I was still reading to my children. Jump ahead 5 years and now my 12 year old and I just had an emergency need to read these stories again. Luckily they were at the library, and reading them (as other reviewers, with a Cajun accent) was such a wonderful time. Now we feel we must buy these books, because they are treasures. One of the great reasons to become a parent is to get to read such books to children!

I've read this one to a class of 2nd graders who were begging for more by the end. The only complaint I got was that I only read the dialogue with a Cajun accent instead of the entire book! I'm watching for more books by this author and plan to buy every one.

This book is one that you can read over and over again to the children. There's is even a song that goes with the book by Johnette Downing! The kid's in my class love this book and most of them own it by the end of the year.

This book is one that you can read over and over again to the children. There's is even a song that goes with the book by Johnette Downing! The kid's in my class love this book and most of them own it by the end of the year.

My kids (8, 5, and 3) love this story, and it's a book that's fun for a parent to read, especially if you enjoy putting on just a bit of an accent when you read. The language in this story is wonderful, and the book comes complete with a one-page Cajun glossary and pronunciation guide, to help your kids learn just a little about Cajun culture.

Feliciana is a wonderful little girl, strong, spunky, and definitely more spice than sugar. She has a whole passel of brothers, who keep her on her toes.

The story, set in a Cajun bayou, is one that little boys and girls from everywhere will enjoy, since it involves a hungry alligator, who bites off more than he can chew when he goes after Feliciana Feydra LeRoux.

The drawings in this book are terrific. Colorful, funny, and whimsical -- they bring the story to life.

This is a great book that has the rare ability to both entertain and teach, and I highly recommend it.

If you're looking for the nuts and bolts of what made the WW2 German army, this is the book. A very nice overview of the entire military machine. As a historian and WW2 German reenactor I liked the coverage of military tactics from army to platoon, as well as the coverage from tanks and airplanes to individual field gear. Weapons, boots, bread bags, radios and all the field gear are covered along with lesser known machines like field kitchens and bread makers! Highly recommended.

Totally comprehensive review of everything about the Wehrmacht from their biggest guns down to their canteens. Massive review of the organizational structure of all elements from the leadership down to breakdowns of divisions, tactics, etc...The claim on the back that Marshall might have known more about the Wehrmacht than Hitler seems plausible. This is a real gem.

An absolute must have for anyone interested in the German military of World War II. A very technical guide that does not waste time with flowery documentation.

This is the ultimate guide to German forces in the Second World War. Although produced late in the war, it covers the old type of infantry division. I thought that was a nice touch. This book teaches us not only about Germans, but what their contemporary counterparts were thinking. Want to crawl around indide the heads of American Intelligence Officers from another era? This is the book.

This an outstanding book of facts and data whose main scope is the German Army. Although the name of the book refers to the whole German armed forces in reality the coverage is wide for the Army, light for the Air Force and almost non-existent for the Navy. The information it contains is extremely detailed (in particular in tables of organization and equipment of many divisions) and on the whole very accurate (although not without the ocassional flaw: a schwärme is referred as a tactical unit of 5 airplanes but in reality was a 4 airplane unit).
Although it provides information from 1939 to 1945 the information relating to the tables of organization, tactics, equipment and uniforms refers mainly to the period 1944-45.
For example, you can find the TO&E of an army and SS panzerdivision in 1944 but not in 1939 or 1940.
Also, it is important to note that due to the nature of the book it is mainly a WHAT and HOW book (provides data and factual information )but is not a WHY book. That is, you will notice that a motorized infantry battalion differs organizationaly from a regular infantry battalion but it is not explained WHY. Other books give the explanation. This is not a problem with the book, it is just its scope. Overall it is a highly recommended book for anyone interested in the details that are not covered in most WW2 books.

Neff, Thomas. "Holding Out and Hanging On: Surviving Hurricane Katrina", University of Missouri Press, 2007.

A Reminder

Amos Lassen

I have had many different kinds of experiences in my life but one that certainly stands out is Hurricane Katrina and I think that is not only because of what I saw but how it so drastically changed my life. There are still pictures in my mind that I do not think I shall ever forget and I am not sure that I want to forget.
Thomas Neff in "Holding Out and Hanging On" allows me to remember and in his photographic essay, he shows us the real impact that Katrina had on the lives of those who went through it. Looking at his photographs is like having a conversation with the people in them. We see moments that go beyond what the camera saw. There is great sensitivity here and a great deal of insight. Many of us who experienced the storm will never forget what we saw but it seems to me that others who were not directly involved need to be reminded of one of the worst disasters in American history. We all must remember Katrina.
Neff not only gives us photographs but also interviews with those affected directly by Katrina and the book is a wonderful testament to those who have been able to rebuild their lives but we must remember that not everyone has been that lucky. A lot has been accomplished since the storm but there is still plenty to do.
Neff's photos and the text shows us what kind of man the author is--he is filled with compassion and courage and an example for all of us As it broke my heart, once again, to see these pictures, I can only imagine what was going on in Neff's mind as he took them. The book documents a disaster--one we should never have to face again.

Neff has produced a magnificent book here of portraits of Katrina victims. These are the REAL people and stories from Katrina!

Thomas Neff is a remarkable photographer and this book sharing the real impact of Katrina on people's lives is powerful, timeless, truthful in an inside and honest way that no casual viewer could comprehend. Neff's vision is sophisticated but pure, trained but revealing in its simplicity, visually poetic with the abhorrent facts of life that have been so cruel to so many. If that weren't enough, there are the essential, heroic and stunningly conveying essays which accompany each image. The photographs share so much comprehensive visual information that one needn't ask for more, but by conveying a much broader and richer context for each image through writing and story telling, a nearly complete cultural mosaic is spun, surrounding the milestone and epic event so unique in US History. This book will stand through time as a classic conveyance of important information about an event that we all know about, but certainly haven't had, until this book provided us with it, an insider's view of the real nitty-gritty that is life, both cruel and beautiful. Way to go, Thomas Neff. Such a brilliant work which we should all feel grateful to comprehend.

Armed with a thorough history of the medium and a flawless technique that has played out over a distinguished career, Mr. Neff has produced a timeless and distinct look into a photographic story untold by the weekend warriors of popular media. The photographs in Holding Out and Hanging On are an extended conversation, empathetic moments that live far beyond the click of the shutter and into a tragedy that has long been forgotten by it's neighbors and countrymen. The photographs are the eye and the heart of a man who is compassionate, realistic, courageous beyond belief and a model for who we should strive to be. As the portraits separate themselves from the time of exposure, the complex clarity and humanity of Neff's photographs are further revealed as a critically important document of the people who lived though Hurricane Katrina as well as an informative and poetic addition to the canon of concerned photography.

Mr. Neff has been my friend and mentor for over ten years now and I could not be more proud to own this necessary book of socially and historically necessary photography that is flawless in it's execution and communion with the spirit and people of New Orleans.

Bradly Dever Treadaway
Faculty Member, The International Center of Photography
New York, NY

The drive down from Chicago to the French Quarter in the canteen left me feeling heavy hearted & speechless. The vast area that hurricane Katrina hit left behind a sea of wasteland like nothing I'd ever seen before. Some areas were completely wiped out where others were only battered, yet the people I met along the way while serving with the Salvation Army in the French Quarter were such a blessing. It was one afternoon in the French Quarter that I met Mr. Neff--I was on my way back from delivering supplies and checking on some of the neighbors. By this time the media was swarming the streets looking for new sensational stories for the headlines. I must say that I did meet a few that tried to report more uplifting personal stories of survival but the majority did not--they were insensitive and disrespectful to the residents. Mr. Neff had a sincere interest in the people he met & photographed, and you can see it in his subjects' eyes: their transparency and trust. Mr. Neff's body of work gives the reader a glimpse into his subjects' lives during this most difficult time. Thank you for recording what words cannot fully express.