Reddit reviews The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square

Gumbo Tales - by Sara Roahan -- The most beautifully written book about New Orleans cuisine I've ever encountered. Hilarious, poignant, reflective, uplifting and sad. Don't read if you're hungry. Or if you're not near food because you will become hungry.

The World that Made New Orleans -- Ned Sublette -- A narrative history book that looks at all the cultures, people, government systems and all the historical events that shaped the formation of New Orleans. Great read, if only for the chapter where the author incredulously wonders why people would argue Thomas Jefferson didn't sleep with his slaves.

Nine Lives - Dan Baum -- An oral history of nine New Orleanians that lived through Hurricane Betsy and Hurricane Katrina. Includes tales from the wife of legendary Mardi Gras Indian Tootie Montana, marching band director Wilbert Rawlins (also featured in "The Whole Gritty City") and the President of the Rex Organization, among others. Beautifully composed and written.

City of Refuge - Tom Piazza -- Historical fiction following a group of people as they recover from Katrina. Looks at people from every walk of life in New Orleans and does a great job of transmitting their individual struggles in the wake of the storm.

New Orleans, Mon Amour -- A collection of writings and short stories about life in New Orleans. Probably the most romanticized of all the books I've listed but no less awesome.

I also have to second the recommendations made for Confederacy of Dunces (one of the funniest, laugh-out-loud books you'll ever read) and the Moviegoer.

(Edit: City of Refuge is fiction)

Some that I love:

• The World That Made New Orleans by Ned Sublette
  
• Gumbo Ya-Ya: A Collection of Louisiana Folk Tales by Robert Tallant, Lyle Saxon, Edward Dreyer
  
• New Orleans Then and Now by Richard and Marina Campanella
  
• Eat Dat New Orleans: A Guide to the Unique Food Culture of the Crescent City by Michael Murphy

Here an Amazon link http://www.amazon.com/World-That-Made-New-Orleans/dp/1556529589/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319134042&sr=1-2-fkmr0

I read a great book that was required reading for one of my university classes in NOLA. Give The World That Made New Orleans a try. It's obviously not as far-reaching as Guns Germs and Steel, but New Orleans is such an interesting and culturally diverse city, and the book explores the different origins of NOLA cuisine, music, architecture, etc.

>Same for people living in Louisiana and speaking French

Politics aside /u/I_value_my_shit_more you should check out The World That Made New Orleans; it does a good job at least in a small section of America of documenting how immigration has defined the culture there and helped evolve it to where it is today.

In the later chapters it focuses more on music, but the empirical historical stuff early on (starts in the 1400s) is pretty neat even if you don't give a shit about jazz.