Books in the America's Third Coast Series series

Explores the Mississippi as a waterway of change, unnaturally confined by ever-larger levees and control structures. Since 1973, the US Army Corps of Engineers Control Complex at Old River has kept the Mississippi from jumping out of its historic channel and plunging through the Atchafalaya Basin to the Gulf of Mexico. Beyond Control traces the history of this phenomenon.

Presents the state of languages and of linguistic research on topics such as indigenous language documentation and revival; variation in educational opportunities in Louisiana's French varieties; current research on rural and urban dialects of English; and the struggles more recent immigrants face to use their heritage languages.

Offers both scholars and the general public an overview of how rich and diverse the French language in Louisiana is, and serves as a key reminder that Louisiana serves as a prime repository for Native and heritage languages, ranking among the strongest preservation regions in the southern and eastern US.