A New York Times bestseller and Oprah's Book Club Pick-the unique and deeply moving saga of four generations of African-American women whose journey from slavery to freedom begins on a Creole plantation in Louisiana. Beginning with her great-great-great-great grandmother, a slave owned by a Creole family, Lalita Tademy chronicles four generations of strong, determined black women as they battle injustice to unite their family and forge success on their own terms. They are women whose lives begin in slavery, who weather the Civil War, and who grapple with contradictions of emancipation, Jim Crow, and the pre-Civil Rights South. As she peels back layers of racial and cultural attitudes, Tademy paints a remarkable picture of rural Louisiana and the resilient spirit of one unforgettable family. There is Elisabeth, who bears both a proud legacy and the yoke of bondage... her youngest daughter, Suzette, who is the first to discover the promise-and heartbreak-of freedom... Suzette's strong-willed daughter Philomene, who uses a determination born of tragedy to reunite her family and gain unheard-of economic independence... and Emily, Philomene's spirited daughter, who fights to secure her children's just due and preserve their dignity and future. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Cane River presents a slice of American history never before seen in such piercing and personal detail.

Originally published in 1958. Johnson tells the story of the Red River Campaign, which took place in Louisiana and Arkansas in the spring of 1864. In response to the demands of Union Free-Soil interests in Texas, and the need of New England textile manufacturers for cotton, an expedition was undertaken to open the way to Texas. General Nathaniel Banks conducted a combined military and naval expedition up the Red River in a campaign that lasted only from March 23 to May 20, 1864, but was one of the most destructive of the Civil War. The campaign ended in Banks's defeat at the Battle of Sabine Crossroads. This book illustrates how military operations during the Civil War were often intimately interwoven with political, economic, and ideological factors, which frequently determined the time and place of a Union offensive. The author describes the desires and opinions of the public, the press, and Lincoln's administration regarding an invasion of Texas, as well as the motivation of the officers themselves, such as Banks's aspiration for the 1864 presidential nomination. Johnson relates vividly the various battles of the expedition and the problems posed by mustering undisciplined troops, by having to procure supplies in poor country with insufficient supply lines, and by contending with bad weather and rough terrain.