
The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square
New Orleans has always been the most polyglot of American cities, with streets and landmarks named in a multitude of tongues (and even a little English); it is a place where stolid religiosity stands cheek by jowl with high lasciviousness. Ned Sublette’s latest book, The World That Made New Orleans, is a journey through the early days of the city—back to before it even was one—and an examination of the influence of each culture that successively dropped its wares on the Big Easy.
The first settlement at what is now New Orleans was a campsite established on the east bank of the Mississippi by