For nearly 300 years, from its founding in the early 1700s to the present, Louisiana has been one of the most fascinating and culturally diverse geographical areas on the North American continent. To many people, the name calls to mind images of sleepy bayous with moss-draped cypresses and the hot sounds of New Orleans-style jazz, but there is much more to "the Bayou State" than what exists in the popular perception.

Louisiana holds a dimension seldom portrayed in the thousands of movies and television shows shot in the state. Across the state there exists a culture of hardworking people tilling the land, pulling fish and shrimp from the sea, staffing factories, and selling the fruits of their labors in the open marketplace.

Louisiana is also a place where the joie de vivre--the "joy of life"--is celebrated like nowhere else. Both sides of this captivating locale, the work and the play, the struggles and the pleasures, are seen in the diverse photographs showcased in this volume. Filled with nearly 200 images reproduced in vivid black-and-white, Historic Photos of Louisiana is an entrancing look at this unique state.