It sounds similar to John McDermott's BEFORE MARK TWAIN, A SAMPLER OF OLD OLD TIMES ON THE MISSISSIPPI (1968). Have you compared them? Kevin @ Mac Donnell Rare Books 9307 Glenlake Drive Austin TX 78730 512-345-4139 Member: ABAA, ILAB ************************* You may browse our books at www.macdonnellrarebooks.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wes Britton" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 4:43 PM Subject: new book on Mississippi > Saw this today--thought folks might be interested. > > WICKED RIVER: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild by Lee Sandlin = > (Anchor . 368 pages . on sale: 10/4/11 . price: $15.95 . ISBN: = > 978-0-307-47357-8). From > > award-winning journalist Lee Sandlin comes a riveting look at one of the = > most colorful, dangerous, and peculiar places in America's historical = > landscape: > > the strange, wonderful, and mysterious Mississippi River of the = > nineteenth century. Beginning in the early 1800s and climaxing with the = > siege of Vicksburg > > in 1863, WICKED RIVER takes us back to a time before the Mississippi was = > dredged into a shipping channel, and before Mark Twain romanticized it = > into myth. > > Drawing on an array of suspenseful and bizarre firsthand accounts, = > Sandlin brings to life a place where river pirates brushed elbows with = > future presidents > > and religious visionaries shared passage with thieves-a world unto = > itself where, every night, near the levees of the big river towns, = > hundreds of boats > > gathered to form dusk-to-dawn cities dedicated to music, drinking, and = > gambling. Here is a minute-by-minute account of Natchez being flattened = > by a tornado; > > the St. Louis harbor being crushed by a massive ice floe; hidden, = > nefarious celebrations of Mardi Gras; and the sinking of the Sultana, = > the worst naval > > disaster in American history. Here, too, is the Mississippi itself: = > gorgeous, perilous, and unpredictable, lifeblood to the communities that = > rose and fell > > along its banks. An exuberant work of Americana-at once history, = > culture, and geography-WICKED RIVER is a grand epic that portrays a = > forgotten society > > on the edge of revolutionary change. > > > Dr. Wesley Britton > www.spywise.net > > Co-host, Dave White Presents > www.audioentertainment.org/dwp > > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.1809 / Virus Database: 2085/4536 - Release Date: 10/03/11 > ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1809 / Virus Database: 2085/4536 - Release Date: 10/03/11