Craig A. Bauer will discuss his new book, "An Untractable Country: The History of Kenner, Louisiana," at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22 at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and is open to the public. Registration is not required.

Louisiana's sixth largest city, Kenner, is often looked upon as a suburb of New Orleans and home to Louis Armstrong International Airport. "An Untractable Country" reveals that Kenner has its own unique and dynamic history separate from that of New Orleans. This is the first book-length narrative of the 300-year-old story of the people and events that transformed an area located along the Mississippi River, approximately 13 miles upriver from the Crescent City, from a grassy Indian hunting ground to one of Louisiana's largest municipalities.

From its earliest times as the colonial settlement of Cannes Brulees through its incarnation as the small antebellum town of Kennerville, to its rapid growth as a suburban bedroom community during the second half of he 20th century, the story of Kenner exemplifies life in communities across the state and fills an important void in the greater mosaic of the story of Louisiana.

Craig Bauer is professor of history at the University of Holy Cross in New Orleans where he holds the Nancy O'Neill Endowed Professorship in History. He is the author of the books "The Bringier Family and Antebellum Plantation Life in Louisiana," published in 2011, and "A Leader Among Peers: The Life and Times of Duncan Farrar Kenner," published in 1993. He has also published several journal and periodical articles on Louisiana history and the juvenile justice system.