Photography -- Southern Studies -- Travel

There is no place in America like New Orleans's famed French Quarter.

With photographs and history, "The French Quarter of New Orleans" explores the unique evolution of this district. The author and photographer team to reveal how war, fire, floods, politics, cultural conflict, and architectural innovation shaped the Quarter.

In West Freeman's 160 color photographs the present-day romance of the Vieux Carre is here to savor. But "The French Quarter of New Orleans" moves beyond the Old World facades and into the heart and history of the many peoples-Spanish, French, Creole, Native American, African American, and Italians-who have lived here.

From humble, wooden French cottages to stately, brick Spanish Colonial mansions, from Madame John's Legacy to the St. Louis Cathedral, the Quarter's architecture enthralls, and Jim Fraiser's text creates an anecdotal walking tour of memorable and storied sites.

Studying buildings, Fraiser points out the struggle between native Creoles and newcomers in the replacement of Creole townhouses and cottages with "shotgun houses" and American Greek Revival homes. Freeman's photographs and Fraiser's text detail the historical significance and architectural styles of over one hundred structures.

The history of the Quarter teems with vagabonds and saints, warriors and playwrights, musicians, and politicians. Fraiser animates the fascinating story with such evocative figures as the pirate Jean Lafitte, the conquering general Andrew Jackson, and the voodoo queen Marie Laveau. Riverboat gamblers, ladies of the night, duelists, opera aficionados, plague victims, jazz musicians, charlatans, and Mardi Gras revelers populate the streets and edifices Fraiser describes.

For those who have visited the Quarter, this book will be a treasured memento of the district's unparalleled romance and flavor.

Jim Fraiser is the author of "Mississippi River Country Tales" (2001) and, with West Freeman, "The Majesty of the Mississippi Delta" (2002). He lives in Jackson, Mississippi.

West Freeman is a native of New Orleans. His photographic work has been featured in "Architectural Digest" and is in the permanent collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art.

The Garden District of New Orleans has enthralled residents and visitors alike since it arose in the 1830's with its stately white-columned Greek Revival mansions and double-galleried Italianate houses decorated with lacy cast iron. Photographer West Freeman evokes the romance of this elegant neighborhood with lovely images of private homes, dazzling gardens, and public structures. Author Jim Fraiser vividly details the historical significance and architectural styles of more than a hundred structures and chronicles both the political and cultural evolution of the neighborhood.The Garden District, unlike the French Quarter, evolved under the auspices of predominantly Anglo-American architects hired by newly arriving, and newly wealthy, Americans. Beyond these wealthy homeowners, the Garden District also offers a startlingly diverse and freewheeling history teeming with African American slaves, free men and women of color, French, Italians, Germans, Jews, and Irish, all of whom helped fashion it into one of America's first suburbs and most extraordinary neighborhoods. Fraiser animates the Garden District's story with such notables as Mark Twain; Jefferson Davis; occupying Union general Benjamin Butler; flamboyant steamboat captain Thomas Leathers; crusading Reverend Theodore Clapp; Confederate generals Jubal Early and Leonidas Polk; jazzmen Joe ""King"" Oliver and Nate ""Kid"" Ory; champion pugilist John L. Sullivan; local authors Grace King, George Washington Cable, and Anne Rice; Mayor Joseph Shakespeare; architects Henry Howard, Lewis Reynolds, and Thomas Sully; cotton magnate Henry S. Buckner; and Louisiana Lottery co-founder John A. Morris.In words and photographs, Fraiser and Freeman explore the unexpected evolution of this district and reveal how war, plagues, politics, religion, cultural conflict, and architectural innovation shaped the incomparable Garden District.