Books by Reid Mitchell

This text covers the secession and the war - the years 1861-1865. Its focus is the interaction of the military progress of the war, Union and Confederate politics, and social change, particularly emancipation. This treatment integrates literature on the war, society, and politics.

Mitchell takes us to Mardi Gras, the yearly ritual that sweeps the richly multicultural city of New Orleans into a frenzy of parades, pageantry, dance, drunkenness, music, sexual display, and social and political bombast. He tells us some of the most intriguing stories of Carnival since 1804 and he examines the meaning and messages of Mardi Gras.