Louisiana State University Press

And again, if you're going to ever seriously read Faulkner, the kind of first real great collection of essays that really... are very useful with him.

It's Cleon Brooks' The Oknot Taffa Country, published by, I want to say originally by LSU Press way back when, but I think later by Yale University Press.

First published in 63 and republished year after year after year.

Kind of matching Carlos Baker's Hemingway, the writer's artist, as the kind of first great work of criticism on an author.

Dr. Turnbell teaches history at the University of North Alabama and is the senior editor of the Tennessee Historical Quarterly.

And today we'll be discussing her new book, Spanish Louisiana, Contest for Borderlands 1763 to 1803, which came out with LSU Press in 2024.

Welcome to the New Books Network, Frances.

Good to have you here today.

... it's called Lou Cannon: From Ronald Reagan to Rodney King, chronicl- chronlicing- chronicling America in an Age of Optimism.

LSU Press put it out.

And so, and I mean, he's not around.

He passed in December, so he can't talk about it, but I wanted you to know about it.

You know, I think it's, it's tough, right? Because in some ways, part of why I describe it as true crime is because everybody recognizes what that is.

And so it's an easy way to get people who would otherwise not be terribly interested [laughs] in a story like this, or, you know, an academic book, right, something from LSU Press, to really read it.

In terms of whether or not I think it is part of true crime, I think it's, it's kind of on the outside looking in with this critique, or maybe it's on the inside with their critique.

Like, there's no denying it is a series of historical events that are crimes, and it is true, right? So in that regard, it's very much in that camp.

Uh, I, I picked up the book.

I did not think I was picking up a true crime book.

It, because despite the title, it's by LSU Press.

You know, you are, um, you are an academic, you know, incredibly knowledgeable.