Pirate leader Jean Lafitte has a critical decision to make. So does the U.S. Navy. Nothing less is at stake than the future of Barataria Bay—and New Orleans.

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The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf by William C. Davis

"Jean Lafitte and the British Offer of 1814" by John Sugden

"The Patterson and Ross Raid on Barataria, September 1814" by Robert C. Vogel

The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette

The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell