The Slave States (original 1959; edition 1959)

Selections from Frederick Law Olmsted's influential writing about the antebellum South, with a useful introduction that will also interest fans of Olmsted the landscape architect. This edition is a good alternative to wading through all four of Olmsted's books about the South.

Wonderfully vivid personal observations, not only of slavery but of other aspects of southern ante-bellum life. The secton on Mexicans in Texas is interesting, for example. ( )