History of the Huguenot Emigration to America

Book excerpt: This extensively-researched two-volume series offers a detailed account of "the coming of the persecuted Protestants of France to the New World, and their establishment, particularly in the seaboard provinces [New England] now comprehended within the United States....The volumes now submitted to the public treat first of these antecedent movements, and then take up the narrative of the events that led to the more considerable and more effective emigration, in the latter years of the seventeenth century." This very readable narrative history is rich with details about persons, places and events. Much of the information preserved on these pages was gleaned from unpublished documents found in the United States, France and England: "Manuscripts in the possession of the descendants of refugees; memorials, petitions, wills, and other papers on file in public offices;" as well as numerous church records and other original documents. Volume I includes: Attempted Settlements in Brazil and Florida, Under the Edict: Acadia and Canada, New Netherland, The Antilles, Approach of the Revocation, and The Revocation: Flight from La Rochelle and Aunis. Illustrations, maps, and an appendix enhance the text. An index to full-names, places and subjects for both volumes is contained in Volume II.