Edgar Degas travelled from Paris to New Orleans during the fall of 1872 to visit the American branch of his mother's family, the Mussons. He arrived at a key moment in the cultural history of this most exotic of American cities, still recovering from the agony of the Civil War: the decisive period of Reconstruction, in which his American relatives were importantly involved.

This was precisely the time when the American writers Kate Chopin and George Washington Cable were beginning to mine the resources of New Orleans culture and history. What was it about this war-torn, diverse, and conflicted city that elicited from Degas some of his finest paintings? And what do we need to know about New Orleans society to make sense of Degas's stay?

Benfey gives us the answers to these questions. Degas's white relatives were among the leaders in some of the most violent uprisings in Reconstruction Louisiana, and his black relatives - whose existence this book is the first to reveal - were no less prominent.