Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I checked this book out when I was planning a trip to New Orleans. Initially I thought it was not what I was looking for but Ned Sublette's style was so laid back and appealing that I kept on turning the pages. When the time came for me to return the book, I wasn't done so I purchased it. The history is fascinating and rich in detail as to why New Orleans is decidedly Caribbean in its history and culture. I never knew how much the Spanish had influenced the creation of New Orleans. I really enjoyed the intricate history of how the French, Haitians, Cubans and Americans also came into play. My only complaint is that there was so little mention of the Native American's influence that I am unsure if that is because they had no real influence or if they were just overlooked.

I hope the publisher comes out with a digital edition of this book. I would love to have it on my Kindle. Like Charles C. Mann's 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, it is the sort of book I would like to have handy to consult or re-read sections of.

I read in bed so I tend to fall asleep after a few pages of a typical book. This book was the exception. Great information on the countries of origin of the different slaves and how they impacted the culture and music of the deep south. I finally understand the influence of the French, Spanish and British on early America. Loved it!

This writing covers a lot of territory in a relatively short space. I could have read much more. There are insights and clues into the life of New Orleans from its earliest days as a French and Spanish colony and the first African-American city in the United States. The author indicates the importance of the place historically, economically and culturally. New Orleans appears to have fallen off the radar of most Americans recently, probably due to the fact that most Americans get their information from TV and that medium, being owned an operated by a few corporate interests, has censored the story of the destruction resulting from an apparently avoidable disaster. But the mainstream media has also turned a blind eye to culture in general and that's why this book, and Sublette's other book "Cuba and its Music" are so important. It is as true today as it ever was that being literate is a good way to overcome widespread ignorance. So I recommend reading both of these books as great eye and mind openers.

Ned Sublette's history of the colonial period in New Orleans is so rich with information that it's almost incredible to believe one 21st-century person wrote it. Sublette makes you feel like you were there, watching as the most unique city in the United States arose through the influences of French, Spanish, African and American cultures. By the end of the book, which takes place just after Katrina, you've gained a deep understanding of why we need New Orleans, and why the rebuilding of this magnificent city must be at the heart of reclaiming of our nation's humanity. Highly recommended.

Ned Sublette is one of the brightest minds alive today. His fusion of historical detail, cultural development and human insight is a wonder to behold. If you think that you know something about American history and its antecedents think again, Sublette has redrawn the map of where we came from and the multiplicity of determinants that brought us to where we are today.
Not Since Robert Farris Thompson has anyone brought to bear such a feast of intellectual gifts and profound freedom from dogma. A work of unrivaled erudition.

I had to read this book for a class on New Orleans and it was fabulous. It got off to a slow start but by the third chapter i was hooked. We got to meet the author and its amazing to see how much of his personality shows through in the book. Also contains interesting European, Cuban and Haitian history as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Louisiana natives have always known there are two independent aspects to their state: New Orleans and everyplace else. Like other major ports, the Crescent City has always played host to a mix of cultures, but this is still the American city visitors are most likely to find "foreign." In this very readable cultural narrative of what makes New Orleans historically so unique, Sublette traces the city's development from its founding on the highest point available at the Southern end of the Mississippi, to its rapid progress through three different colonial regimes (French for a few years, Spanish for two generations, French again for three weeks, and American ever since), to the arrival of statehood in 1819. He also points out that until 1962, New Orleans was also a major "Caribbean" port. The Cuban blockade which was instituted that year did major damage to the city's economy and cultural relations -- a decline into which Katrina may have driven the last nail. (The jury will be out on that for awhile yet.) As the author of a well-received book on Cuban music, Sublette is also closely tuned into that side of New Orleans history and culture, pointing out that Place Congo, where slaves and then freedmen gathered to make music and dance for more than a century, is only a block or two from the small studio where in 1947 Roy Brown recorded "Good Rockin' Tonight" -- arguably the first rock-`n'-roll tune. Fascinating bits of less-known history crop up all through this book, from the special place Napoleon Bonaparte had in the local imagination and the effects of pro-French sentiment among the Irish, to the special place mockery of whites had in the slave and free black communities.

Sublette has done an amazing job pulling together political, cultural and social elements into a very compelling narrative. And super-informative too. Extremely impressive historical writing (and this is coming from a history major).

I LOVE how international and broad the perspective is. He really illuminates the dynamics of the time in a fantastic and vivid way.
It's seriously among the most readable and thorough books I've read.

This book, as previously noted, is a complex, detailed and enthralling (for history buffs) book that ties together many different historical threads that make up one part of the culture, especially the music culture, of New Orleans. While my heart has gone out to New Orleans and its people since Katrina, this book really made me understand so much more of what makes New Orleans unique, and what the U.S. will lose in losing some of the people who make up New Orleans' culture.

In addition, when recently in New Orleans, we attended a local festival (the Mirliton Festival), and when a local group, 101 Runners, played "Injun" music, I knew exactly what was going on, thanks to Mr. Sublette's book. I felt privileges to see, and be a little part of, this apect of the local culture.

as enlightening as it is it has a couple of major problems. It just peters out at the end as if the author lost focus and couldn't figure out what to do about it. The chapter on the "Indians" seemed to be just tacked on! It was as if it was taken from another book. It didn't fit this book at all. Maybe it would have if the author had continued his narritive in a linear fashion. I'm surprised the publisher or editor let this glaring problem go! Also there is the VERY tiresome rehashing of the "Did Tom sire Sally's children " routine. To further the sin the writer uses this as premise to launch into an anti-Jefferson rant. This is amateurish and I'm again surprised the editor didn't rein in the author.
Thomas Jefferson had his many flaws as did all the founders but I doubt he was as evil as the author makes him out to be. Other than those problems I enjoyed the book very much!