Delta empire : Lee Wilson and the transformation of agriculture in the new South /

Seldom does an author write a biography that combines business, family, social-cultural, state, regional, and national history in a single volume. Whayne (Univ. of Arkansas; A New Plantation South: Land, Labor, and Federal Favor in Twentieth-Century Arkansas, 1996) accomplishes such a task magnificently. In the late 19th century, Lee Wilson settled low-lying swampy land adjacent to the Mississippi River in northeastern Arkansas. Through great effort, Wilson drained the swamps, converting them over time to a rich and vast agricultural holding that was passed along to his descendants. He and his family accumulated great wealth but were faced with mounting problems--environmental, political, and governmental, with the ghastly horror of racism hovering above the landscape. With Wilson's death in 1958, the plantation evolved and today is part of investors' "capital intensive," or "portfolio agricultural" holdings under the direction of nonfamily interests. For those with interests in business, family, African American, agricultural, state, or regional history, and might be read alongside John Barry's classic Rising Tide (1997). Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. P. D. Travis Texas Woman's University