Essays on New France

W.J. Eccles, the leading Anglo-Canadian social historian of New France, has here collected twelve important essays written over twenty-five years-a period in which he greatly enlarged the significance of his subject by relating New France to the rest of North America, to European imperialism, and to the indigenous peoples. Preceded by an interesting memoir of his career as a scholar, 'Forty Years Back', these essays discuss Francis Parkman's view of New France, which dominated history studies until Eccles began to publish in the 1950s; the roles of the church, the military, and the fur trade; social welfare; and the western frontier. There is also a reappraisal of the Battle of Quebec. Each essay has an introductory note describing the circumstances of writing and giving pertinent background information.