Atlantic Identities: New Views of Louisiana in Global Perspective

Nineteenthcentury historians such as Charles E. A. Gayarré and Alcée Fortier dwelled mainly on the white Creole elite residents of the Crescent City. [...]re- cently, images of the slave community have been rather monochromatic. Narrett, admirably, incorporates Spanish imperial archives along with English and American sources to trace the tumultuous history of this strategic, yet often forgotten region. [...]he does his best to incorporate Native American activities into his discussion, approaching them from both the European and the Indian perspectives. [...]Tracey E. W Laird's essay on the ways in which the battle has been a topic of popular music and culture rounds out the volume, starting with Johnny Horton's 1959 recording of Jimmy Driftwood's "The Battle of New Orleans." [...]the city has a solid study of its Hispanic and Latino communities, and the methods employed by Sluyter, Watkins, Chaney, and Gibson offer a framework for scholars seeking to chronicle the experiences and contributions of other groups, most significantly New Orleans's large Asian and Islamic communities that help form this truly global city.