Customer Reviews

Vestiges of Grandeur: Plantations of Louisiana's River Road

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a fitting tribute to the critically endangered structures along the Great River Road of Louisiana. The author's prose is as evocative as his astonishing photographs, perhaps because the subject matter is so close to his heart. It is both fine art book and invaluable reference work for anyone intrigued by a uniquely American phenomenon. Vestiges of Grandeur is truly haunting, even after you've finished perusing its lush, colorful pages.

Richard Sexton's VESTIGES OF GRANDEUR is stunning, beautiful, and evocative. This has never been done better, if indeed it's been done at this scale at all.

I became facinated with plantation culture as a child and regardless of its wrongs it was a time that we will never see again. The monuments to this time are the great plantation houses that are still being lost at an alarming rate. Some of the greatest examples have already been gone for decades and are all but forgotten like: Belle Grove which was a greater house than Nottoway or Uncle Sam which would have put Oak Alley to shame. Thankfully we still have some traces of that time still with us but what are we doing to save what we have left? That is the nature of this most execellent book and the best to come along for a long time. Not since "Ghosts Along the Mississippi" by Clarence J. Laughlin has this subject been covered with more sympathy for the loss of these treasures from the past. A perfect companion book for "New Orleans-Elegance&Decadence" by the same authors.

I was born and raised on the River Road. I have grown up and almost all of the wonders in this book. Nothing comes close to the accuracy and beauty captured in these photos. I would HIGHLY reccomend this book to anyone that would want to know or learn about the grand homes along the Mississippi and South Louisiana. This book is second to none in my rating. A MUST HAVE and a MUST OWN for EVERYONE!

This is a fantastic coffe table book. This book is all about the pictures, with interesting text to accompany each image. Pictures are loveley, colour and large. If you are considering buying a copy without the dustjacket- go for it, as the cover image is on the underneath as well.
A great addition to any bookshelf or coffee table, my family have all had a look!

I am fascinated with New Orleans and the River Road area and it's history .This has to be one of the best publications about this subject. Sexton seems to capture so much of it's history in the pages of this book, more so than any other author has. The photography is also wonderful and straight forward. I recommend it to any one who wants to learn more about southern Louisiana plantations.

I was looking at books in a book store in New Orleans when I picked up this book. I was surprised that it had so many Planations in it along River Road. I am a desendent of the St. Joseph's P & M Corp., Ltd. Simon Family. This is the first book with such detail of the Planations along River Road. I had to have a copy.

I searched for hours for a coffee table book for a Christmas gift for a close friend who lives in TN but is from New Orleans. She told me she stayed up all night looking at it. When I gave it to her, she pointed out everything from local businesses to personal landmarks. More importantly, the pictures reflected a pre-Katrina city. They captured sites that she remembered but that don't look that way anymore. I would recommend this book for anyone whose heart is in New Orleans.

Although I've never been on River Road I feel this book brought me an authentic glimpse of life during the plantation era. The photographs are amazing and the book kept me spellbound for hours!! What fascinanted me most was how some plantations looked as if their inhabitants literally walked out the door and never looked back. Fine furniture, pictures, personal posessions were just left to slowly rot under leaky ceilings and caving roofs. On my next trip to New Orleans I will make it a priority to take a trip down River Road.

I spent many summers on St Joseph's Plantation which is next to the more famous Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie,La. I was pleased to see that Richard Sexton was able to bring to life the many beautiful plantation homes in his book. The photography is spectacular! I would recommend this book to anyone considering a tour of the River Road. Mr. Sexton accomplished the difficult task of presenting the "grandeur" of planation life in this book.