A History of French Louisiana

Book excerpt: Marcel Giraud has long been acknowledged as the leading European scholar in the filed of the history and development of colonial French Louisiana. Now the long-awaited English translation of Volume One of his Histoire de la Louisiana Française makes the results of his meticulous research readily available. Professor Giraud explores all phases of the beginnings of colonization in the vast Louisiana territory from the first voyage of d'Iberville to the end of the reign of Louis XIV. He examines the attitude of he French regency, the interest of the Church, and the effects of wars and private monopoly on the struggling settlements along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and on the Mississippi. The almost unbelievable poverty with which the emigrants contended, brought on the their lack of agricultural knowledge and by France's niggardly financial support, is portrayed vividly. Professor Giraud has assembled an immense store of information bolstered by documentation from all available sources. The book includes an excellent bibliography and a list of archival resources.