"This classic work in historical geography recounts the evolution of New Orleans, from its founding as a European city in the early seventeenth century up to the present time. The city's geographic location, at the entry to North America's largest river, has helped to shape the economic, social, and demographic character of New Orleans for nearly 300 years. In the midst of the Mississippi's huge swampy delta, the city's inhabitants have confronted an array of seemingly impossible environomental challenges.

But, in meeting them, the city's diverse ethnic groups - French, Spanish, Anglo-America, and African-American - have created a place with a history and culture unlike any other in North America.".

"New Orleans, now presented in a revised and greatly expanded second edition, tells the story of how this remarkable city acquired its special personality and geographic shape. Peirce Lewis describes the city's numerous and well-known charms, as well as its not-so-well-known shortcomings, in an engaging and even-handed manner that will surely appeal to general readers and students and scholars alike."--BOOK JACKET.