Description
Book SynopsisThe West Bank has been a vital part of greater New Orleans since the city's inception, serving as its breadbasket, foundry, shipbuilder, railroad terminal, train manufacturer, and even livestock hub. Richard Campanella examines the West Bank holistically, as a legitimate subregion with its own story to tell.
Trade ReviewJust as the ferries and the bridges provided vital links from New Orleans to the West Bank, Richard Campanella has erected a literary connection to this long-neglected segment of the urban region. It is richly documented, presented in highly readable prose, and provides an thoroughly geographical account that complements the voluminous literature about the east bank. The world abounds in West Banks," writes Richard Campanella. They are where we stuff our nuisances and tuck away gritty industries. But it's doubtful many of these places merit the careful attention Campanella has devoted to the ribbon of land unspooling across the river from New Orleans. How this mixed-use area was sculpted by the Mississippi then populated, developed, and governed over more than three centuries is the subject of this delightfully eye-opening study. Of all the fine books Campanella has produced—and they are starting to mound up—this one may rank among his most revelatory. This is typical Campanella—insightful, revealing, and penetrating in ways that add tremendously to your appreciation and understanding of what is around us.
