'New Orleans Besieged' offers an historic twist | The News Star

What if the British had captured New Orleans in January, 1815, changing the course of the city and the War of 1812? D.K. Midkiff plays with this alternative history in his novel, "New Orleans Besieged," by Louisiana publisher Margaret Media.

It's January 1815 and the treasure-city of New Orleans lies vulnerable and exposed to greedy, blood thirsty pirates. Protection comes not by force of arms but from the cracfty mind of an old Spanish monk. Britain, already exhausted from a generation-long war, has planned a final military campaign aimed at the seizure of the city. This is a novel of alternate history in which the unthinkable happens: the Battle of New Orleans is won by the British. Midkiff, through scrupulous research, posits what the repercussions of such a victory might have been for the time at hand as well as the long term. The work is inspired by many of the actual people and events surrounding the Battle. Several maps true to the period are included. The reader is pulled into the political, cultural and racial tensions of early 19th century Louisiana as seen through the eyes of Andrew Jackson, Jean Lafitte, Edward Livingston, Padre Antonio Sedella and many more.

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