The lush, seductive, Old World elegance of New Orleans is gloriously revealed in this photographic tribute to the "Venice of North America." Richard Sexton"s photographs capture balcony-lined streets, French-style parks, Caribbean-inspired gardens, and ornate public buildings, and take us inside some of the city"s most intriguing private homes. This new edition marks the tenth anniversary with a new cover and binding, and a fully revised afterword. "Rarely," wrote The New Orleans Times-Picayune, "has the city been loved both so wisely and so well." A tribute to a lifestyle of insouciance and exuberance, touched by both spirituality and worldliness, New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence illuminates both the public face and the private soul of a perennially fascinating city. More than 200 full-color photographs and an insightful text capture the stories and characters of yore.