Approaching their topic through the lenses of art history and social history, the authors explore a largely unexamined and provocative genre of American art: plantation paintings. They attempt in this original study to separate the reality from the mythology represented by the institution of the plantation and the art it inspired. The 83 color plates, 19 black-and-white illustrations, and six essays present both the images and a background for understanding them in the context of slavery and race relations in the United States. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)