A fascinating look inside one of the special collections at the University of Texas that deals with Mississippi's history and culture. The disappointing thing is that the collection itself seems to be misnamed "The Natchez Trace Collection" when it primarily focuses on the Natchez area rather than the entire Natchez Trace which runs from Tennessee, through the northwest corner of Alabama, and through Mississippi. My primary purpose in reading this book was to try to assess what the collection held in terms of value to genealogists exploring their Mississippi ancestry. My conclusion is that it is very valuable if your ancestors resided in the Southern portion of the state and far less valuable if your ancestors, like mine, were in the northern portion. The book contains several overview essays written from different perspectives to show what is available in that area (such as slave studies, women's studies, sectionalism, etc.) The essays are well-written. I would have liked to have seen an essay included written from a genealogist's perspective. I was, however, impressed that one of the authors did recognize the value of genealogy to historical research. This is a good overview volume, but to really mine the worth of the collection, one has to go to Austin and use it. ( )