Beginning with the state’s earliest settlers, Ben Wynne explores the paradox that is Mississippi—its rich soil and namesake river, yet its vulnerability to natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. It is one of the US’s poorest states, yet has one of the richest cultural legacies. It is the birthplace of the blues and the childhood home of such American icons as Elvis Presley, William Faulkner, Oprah Winfrey, and B.B. King. Wynne sketches Mississippi’s development from primarily native settlements and wilderness to industry-driven cities; examines the importance of slavery and agriculture and the resulting devastation that followed the Civil War; and follows the slow transition from segregation to equal rights marked by the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.