I am the author, and LaPlata County Series, Book Two is the culmination of years of study about an era and part of the South my people helped develop. Both novels in this series are a tribute to both the Black and White people of Amite County Mississippi. After considerable research into Black English, I have made an attempt to write the dialogue of slaves and former slaves somewhat close to the way they spoke the language; this is not to ridicule but to preserve a way of life that needs preserved. (Book Cover) Luther Butler continues his LaPlata County Series. James Butler's (alias James Wilkerson) descendents find themselves caught up in a conflict that tears him and his Black comrade, Charles Ray, from the Amite County farm to a dangerous Yankee prisoner of war camp. MISSISSIPPI WOMAN continues the series after the Civil War. Nat Wilkerson's wife, Sally Ann, loses the Amite County farm and moves to Fort Worth, Texas where, for health reasons, two of her sons leave for LaPlata County, Colorado where the mountains touch the sky. A section of Fort Worth is called, "Hell's Half Acre." Here Bret Sloan took the exslaves from Mississippi and opened a house of prostitution. Like the characters in GONE WITH THE WIND, AMITE COUNTY'S people adjust to a South that is lost in gun smoke and fancy mirrors.

"The Slaves of Liberty" is a well written, and well researched book. The author goes to great lengths to document sources and this will be of great help to others researching their family. I do take issue with the author's simplistic statements concerning the start of the Civil War. However, I still found this to be a must read.

This book is well written, well documented. Even if you are not researching your slave ancestry, you will find references to slaveholders and other residents in the Amite County, Mississippi area. It's a small book for the price, but I found it well worth it for adding rich detail to my family history research out of Amite County.