John C. Willis's moving study of the Mississippi Delta country after the Civil War presents an historical tapestry both inspiring and tragic. With impressive archival command, he reveals that, contrary to longstanding assumptions, hundreds of freedmen acquired thousands of fabulously productive acres in the Delta after the Civil War. By the mid 1890s, however, these landowners fell victim to hostile banks, white chicanery, disastrously low cotton prices, and the failure of a flawed, post-Reconstruction political fusion of wealthy whites and compliant blacks. Willis's canvas is filled with fascinating characters, from Colonel William A. Percy, a fairminded paternalist, to freedman Bohlen Lucs, who defied fate and man to uphold his ideals and property. Forgotten Time reminds us how rich, intellectually exciting, and varied Southern history can be when told with eloquence and sensitivity.--Bertram Wyatt-Brown, University of Florida
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