Cotton: From Southern Fields to the Memphis Market

A written and photographic history of cotton's role in American society, from the author of Memphis Blues.

In the barbeque joints and plate lunch cafes off Memphis's Front Street, one is easily reminded of the days when cotton was king. It was a society of characters and cads; the big time and the small time; the rich and the richer; the hangers-on, anointed, powerful, and busted. Cotton created empires in agriculture, transportation, banking, and warehousing. It also shackled the dreams an...