New Orleans is practically synonymous with Mardi Gras. Bothevoke the parades, the beads, the costumes, the fooda the pomp and circumstance.The carnival krewes are the backbone of this Big Easy tradition. Every year,different krewes put on extravagant parties and celebrations to commemorate thebeginning of the Lenten season. Historic krewes like Comus, Rex and Zulu thatdate back generations are intertwined with the greater history of New Orleansitself. Today, new krewes are inaugurated and widen a once exclusive part ofNew Orleans society. Through careful anddetailed research of over three hundred sources, including fifty interviewswith members of these organizations, author and New Orleans native RosaryOa Neill explores this storied institution, its antebellum roots and its effectsin the twenty-first century.