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.

There aren't many good histories of New Orleans available and this is one of the best and most comprehensive (as far as how much of that history it covers...i don't mean to imply it is a complete history) i have come across. For those who know the New Orleans area well, the anecdotes regarding characters who have generally been lost to history for whom bridges, neighborhoods, and streets are named will fascinate and amuse. Overall the information and the reverent tone with which it is presented make this a must read for both citizens and lovers of the City of New Orleans.I have made this a gift for a half dozen friends and family.

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.

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 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!

Ned Sublette, author of Cuba and Its Music, embarks on a daring undertaking in a detailed and complete history of the Big Easy. Sublette spent the 2004-2005 year in New Orleans, leaving just three months before Hurricane Katrina hit and the levees broke, changing the city forever; making this book all the more meaningful and emotional.

With extensive research, Sublette starts at the very beginning, explaining the topography and geology of the Mississippi River and the substantial yet flooded Mississippi Delta, and how there was simply nothing that could really be built there before the advent of water pumps created the potential for draining of the area. In a time when the land that would one day be Louisiana was being fought over and used by the Spanish, French, and British, while every piece of natural resource in this part of the world was being used for the benefit of the Western World, coupled with the unceasing influx of slaves, a group of settlers began a town that would one day become the great city of New Orleans. Inhabitants included an influx of forced citizens from France consisting of prostitutes and convicts.

From its genesis, New Orleans was composed of an entire world of nationalities, cultures, faiths, and languages. Like the spine of the book, Sublette uses music as the backbone of The World That Made New Orleans, discussing the influences and developments of these different people, many of them slaves. It is a city that, after the catastrophic events of Hurricane Katrina, will never be the same - like New York missing the World Trade Center skyline. Thankfully, Sublette does an incredible job of revealing the many chapters in the history of New Orleans.

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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.

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.

My experience reading this book was a love/hate relationship. Some chapters are fascinating and made me want to keep reading, while others were too dry and made it tempting to not finish the book at all. This book offers a great history of New Orleans' early development and especially how it developed in the context of what was happening internationally. However, the book seemed to suddenly stop at the end, leaving the reader hanging without providing any connection to the 20th and 21st centuries. For music fans who loved Sublette's previous book, Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo and are looking for more of the same, this book does touch on the music of New Orleans, but this is definitely a general history book overall, not a book on music history.

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.