The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underworld | Herbert Asbury

The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underworld | Herbert Asbury | French Quarter -- A Very Enjoyable Book

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The French Quarter...

	The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underworld Herbert Asbury Basic Books, 2003 - 512 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Home to the notorious "Blue Book," which listed the names and addresses of every prostitute living in the city, New Orleans's infamous red-light district gained a reputation as one of the most raucous in the world. But the New Orleans underworld consisted of much more than the local bordellos. It was also well known as the early gambling capital of the United States, and sported one of the most violent records of street crime in the country. In The French Quarter, Herbert Asbury, author of The Gangs of New York, chronicles this rather immense underbelly of "The Big Easy." From the murderous exploits of Mary Jane "Bricktop" Jackson and Bridget Fury, two prostitutes who became famous after murdering a number of their associates, to the faux-revolutionary "filibusters" who, backed by hundreds of thousands of dollars of public support?though without official governmental approval?undertook military missions to take over the bordering Spanish regions in Texas, the French Quarter had it all. Once again, Asbury takes the reader on an intriguing, photograph-filled journey through a unique version of the American underworld.

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Ahead of its time

Considering when this book was published, the fact that it held my interest in 2007 is nothing short of good, honest observation and recording by the author. I thought this was a wonderful book.

French Quarter -- A Very Enjoyable Book

This was an excellent book. I have almost finished it, and I have trouble putting it down. It gives a very clear picture of how the Louisiana Territory developed. Herbert Asbury gives the reader many interesting personal facts about the region, its development, and the causes for the reputation of "The Big Easy." Since I live in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area, I have always been fascinated with the tales told about pirates, brothels, French and Spanish culture, Creoles, and the development of Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

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Wonderful-With Caveats

This book stops at 1917 with the closing of Storyville, and was first published in 1938. If at all possible, buy a good original printing. The trade paperback now out has poor, small reproductions of the original illustrations. This is a wonderful, engaging, laugh-out-loud book to be read time and time again. However, it has some factual errors. Asbury implies that Storyville was in the French Quarter-it was not. He also repeats verbatim some "legends" that were invented long after the fact. If you want a correct history of Storyville, see Al Rose's book.

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Dark Sides of the Big Easy

Historically based light narrative-style book. An entertaining read before, during, or after your visit to the Big Easy! This book can be read in parts, but the intriguing bits will make you want to hunt down the haunts of the historical smarmy side of New Orleans.

reviews: page 1, 2

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