Ghost Empire: How the French Almost Conquered North America

by Philip Marchand

Book Overview

After he explored the Great Lakes and the entire Mississippi, Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was murdered by his own men when he led them on a disastrous mission to Texas. But the vast land... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 077105677X
• ISBN13: 9780771056772
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
• Length: 444 Pages
• Weight: 1.82 lbs.

Customer Reviews

I expected something like Tony Horowitz’s A Voyage Long And Strange, but was wrong.

This book does a horrible job explaining the French empire in North America. Likewise, I took issue with the way the author portrayed native Americans and their experiences with the French. This book also would have been better just focusing on the story of La Salle rather than the other storylines. Taking those pieces out would have shorten and streamlined it. Those parts I also found to be boring.

A top pick for both college-level American history collections and any general-interest public libra

GHOST EMPIRE: HOW THE FRENCH ALMOST CONQUERED NORTH AMERICA is an outstanding survey which tells of explorer LaSalle, murdered by his own men but a key figure in claiming land for France in 1682. Had history not gone differently, a French-speaking empire might have extended a thousand miles beyond Quebec, Catholic in religion and strong in Native rights issues. In presenting the story of LaSalle's achievements and speculating on what could have been, an exciting alternative history is created which weaves past and present in a powerful account of conquest, culture and change. A top pick for both college-level American history collections and any general-interest public library strong in lively, thought-provoking American history surveys.