Böcker av Nathalie Dessens

A study of antebellum New Orleans during a time of rapid expansion and dizzying change. The story follows the twenty-year correspondence of Jean Boze to Henri de Ste-Geme, both refugees from Saint-Domingue. Exploring parts of the city's history that have previously been neglected, Nathalie Dessens examines how New Orleans came to symbolize progress, adventure, and culture to so many.

Examines the legacy of Saint-Domingue refugees who settled in Louisiana between 1791 and 1815. This study of the Saint-Domingue influence finds that the new arrivals established New Orleans' first newspapers and many of its oldest schools and left their cultural influence on the city's music and architecture.

Providing insights into the origins of benevolent myths about the Old South, Dessens compares slave systems of the Caribbean and the American South from the early days of European colonization to the abolition of slavery. Both historical and literary scholarship explains why these two slave societies of the Americas developed so differently.