Vestiges of Grandeur: Plantations of Louisiana's River Road

This is no ordinary picture book. It's a complete history of River Road plantation life, told with engaging depth, startling photography, and profound cultural insight. It is a narrative study, every bit an exercise in sociology as in history and architecture. This book is so good it's hard to know whether to praise the beautiful illustration - a combination of photography and other graphics - or the engaging text. This is a book that has obviously been prepared as a serious study, and will be useful to architectural historians, architects, and local historians, as well as curious general readers. It is not an architectural catalog, but is a narrative featuring discussion of about 20 of the most important River Road sites, most of which are still standing. The book is organized into chapters dedicated to exterior styles, interior details and design, and landscaping. This book was published in 1999, when many of the houses featured were in desperate need of restoration. The reader will find the dilapidated state of some of the structures either quaint or alarming, depending on the attitude toward restoration. Some of the houses shown here have been restored, and some were damaged in hurricane Katrina, which happened six years after this book was published. For me, the most outstanding things about the book are the dazzling aerial photographs and the rigor of the sociological analysis. It's showing its age a bit, but this is still a fantastic book, especially for students of River Road history, architectural history, and for committed amateurs.

For me, this is a really fun book just to browse thru. The pictures and history are very nicely done. Glad I purchased this book. I will read it much more copiously before my next visit to Louisiana or other parts of the South.

I became facinated with plantation culture as a child and regardless of its wrongs it was a time that we will never see again. The monuments to this time are the great plantation houses that are still being lost at an alarming rate. Some of the greatest examples have already been gone for decades and are all but forgotten like: Belle Grove which was a greater house than Nottoway or Uncle Sam which would have put Oak Alley to shame. Thankfully we still have some traces of that time still with us but what are we doing to save what we have left? That is the nature of this most execellent book and the best to come along for a long time. Not since "Ghosts Along the Mississippi" by Clarence J. Laughlin has this subject been covered with more sympathy for the loss of these treasures from the past. A perfect companion book for "New Orleans-Elegance&Decadence" by the same authors.

I certainly agree with the other reviewers that praise the photography and selection of the images in this book. But there are also unique insights into the lives and culture of the people who lived and worked on these plantations. Photographs and biographies reveal how the plantation world functioned. A baby's cradle and a prie dieu bring out in a very human way the lives of the individuals involved in the history of this lost world. Astonishing aerial photos show historic homes cheek by jowl with oil refineries, illustrating the enormous risks that face the historic plantations today and tomorrow. Then there are the simple, humble, small-scale images of domestic life, such as page 206 that displays a picture entitled "Louisiana ducks roasting on the open hearth at Destreham plantation. Sweet potatoes bake in the hot embers below the fire." In an instant my mind flashes back more than a century and I can almost see the ghosts. It's difficult to describe the special charm of this book, but I can assure you that you're in for a unique experience if you read it. The much overused word ESSENTIAL is truly authentic in this case. One feels that veils are lifted and a vital new understanding has been achieved.

I'm enjoying this book about in intrigue of New Orleans. When I received the book, it seemed to be packaged well but when opened, the two front corners of the book are bent and torn. That was not in the description of the book so I don't know if it came that way from the seller or was damaged in the mail.

I'm so glad I purchased this for my personal library. My thanks to the seller for listing its condition appropriately and packaging it so securely for shipping.

This is a gorgeous book full of information and amazing photos of some of the most prominent plantations that are on River Road between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Some of the most amazing photos were from plantations that have all but been destroyed. I'd be really interested to see an updated version as some of these homes have been completely transformed since these photos were taken. Most noteably would be Houmas House and Laura which both in this book are nothing like their now restored selves. Regardless, this book is an excellent addition to anyone's plantation library or coffee table!

Louisiana is such a special place and this book highlights that