pWe often think of Reconstruction as an unfinished revolution. Justin A. Nystrom's original study of the aftermath of emancipation in New Orleans takes a different perspective, arguing that the politics of the era were less of a binary struggle over political supremacy and morality than they were about a quest for stability in a world rendered uncertain and unfamiliar by the collapse of slavery.ppCommercially vibrant and racially unique before the Civil War, New Orleans after secession and following Appomattox provides an especially interesting case study in political and social adjustment. Taking a generational view and using longitudinal studies of some of the major political players of the era, iNew Orleans after the Civil Wari asks fundamentally new questions about life in the post-Civil War South Who would emerge as leaders in the prostrate but economically ambitious city How would whites who differed over secession come together over postwar policy Where would the mixed-race midd