Wicked River: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild
Lee Sandlin proves with vivid intensity what the Mississippi River was like before the time of Mark Twain: a river that was feared and respected by those who lived and traveled its course. The years from the early 1800s through the Civil War were a turbulent, chaotic, dangerous, frequently sinister and wicked time.
When most of us think of this river, we conjure up the nostalgic era told in Mark Twain’s books. The author has resurrected a social view of the river that is stimulating to read and shocking at times. Fascinating stories of a murky, malicious river full of peril and pain are gripping. The contrast to the romantic, alluring grandeur of an iconic symbol of beauty that we have fantasized from reading Twain’s classics is striking.
Within this engaging history, you will read about pirates, revivalists, opportunists, soul drivers who transported slaves and other river merchants. Brothel boats with prostitutes and gamblers flowed alongside families seeking a better life.
Lee Sandlin has written a sumptuous history that adds another layer to understanding our past through the feelings of the eyewitnesses who lived along the Mississippi in early 19th century. A preeminent book of 2010.
