"Lost Plantation: The Rise and Fall of Seven Oaks is in many ways an act of love; Marc Matrana cares deeply about this lost plantation. His frustration with its destruction is clear even as he acknowledges the ambivalence of its legacy, since its architectural glory rested on the base of human slavery and exploitation. He has worked hard to tell its story and those of the people who lived there. Everyone interested in the demise of the plantation system or concerned about historic preservation will want to read this intriguing book." --Gaines M. Foster, author of Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause, and the Emergence of the New South, 1865-1913