In what may be the most impressive research to date of state supreme court records, this study analyzes the evolution of Louisiana's slave laws from the territorial period to the Civil War. Schafer presents numerous concise case histories and stories that are fascinating and at times heartbreaking in the particulars they reveal about slaves' existence. Anyone interested in slavery will find Schafer's work riveting reading, for it depicts in detail, probably better than most fictional or narrative accounts, what living in bondage could mean.