Pioneers of France in the New World

Francis Parkman, Jr. (1823 - 1893)

Parkman has been hailed as one of America's first great historians and as a master of narrative history. Numerous translations have spread the books around the world. The American writer and literary critic Edmund Wilson (1895-1972) in his book O Canada (1965), described Parkman’s France and England in North America in these terms: The clarity, the momentum and the color of the first volumes of Parkman’s narrative are among the most brilliant achievements of the writing of history as an art.

Parkman's biases, particularly his attitudes about nationality, race, and especially Native Americans, has generated criticism. The Canadian historian W. J. Eccles harshly criticized what he perceived as Parkman's bias against France and Roman Catholic policies, as well as what he considered Parkman's misuse of French language sources. However, Parkman's most severe detractor was the American historian Francis Jennings, an outspoken and controversial critic of the European colonization of North America, who went so far as to characterize Parkman's work as "fiction" and Parkman himself as a "liar".

Unlike Jennings and Eccles, many modern historians have found much to praise in Parkman's work even while recognizing his limitations. Calling Jennings' critique "vitriolic and unfair," the historian Robert S. Allen has said that Parkman's history of France and England in North America "remains a rich mixture of history and literature which few contemporary scholars can hope to emulate". The historian Michael N. McConnell, while acknowledging the historical errors and racial prejudice in Parkman's book The Conspiracy of Pontiac, has said: "...it would be easy to dismiss Pontiac as a curious perhaps embarrassing artifact of another time and place. Yet Parkman's work represents a pioneering effort; in several ways he anticipated the kind of frontier history now taken for granted...." Parkman's masterful and evocative use of language remains his most enduring and instructive legacy.

This is Vol 1 of Parkman's series "France and England in North America." The LibriVox recording does not include footnotes, many of which are extended quotations from original French sources: See project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3721 for footnotes. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Karen Merline)

Part 1: Pioneers of France in the New World
Part 2: The Jesuits in North America in the 17th Century
Part 4: The Old Régime in Canada
Part 5: Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV
Part 6: Montcalm and Wolfe
Part 7: A Half Century of Conflict

Genre(s): Early Modern

Language: English

Group: Parkman - France and England in North America

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 Introduction Sibella Denton
00:11:04
Play 01 PT 1 HUGENOTS IN FLORIDA: Ch 01 (1512-1561) Early Spanish Adventure Sibella Denton
00:12:35
Play 02 Ch 02 (1550-1558) Villegagnon Sibella Denton
00:17:54
Play 03 Ch 03 (1562, 1563) Jean Ribaut Keith Henige
00:22:42
Play 04 Ch 04 (1564) Laudonniere JimOCR
00:32:50
Play 05 Ch 05 (1564, 1565) Conspiracy Katie Riley
00:14:34
Play 06 Ch 06 (1564, 1565) Famine - War - Succor Keneva
00:29:13
Play 07 Ch 07 pt 1 (1565) Menendez Sibella Denton
00:23:43
Play 08 Ch 07 pt 2 (1565) Menendez Sibella Denton
00:23:09
Play 09 Ch 08 (1565) Massacre of the Heretics Sibella Denton
00:24:40
Play 10 Ch 09 (1565-1567) Charles IX - Phillip II Mark Penfold
00:08:00
Play 11 Ch 10 (1567-1583) Dominique de Gourgues Sibella Denton
00:28:45
Play 12 PT 2 SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN & HIS ASSOCIATES WITH A VIEW OF EARLIER FRENCH ADVENTURE IN AMERICA, AND THE LEGENDS OF THE NORTHERN COASTS: Ch 01 pt 1 (1488 - 1543) Champlain: Early French Adventure in North America David Nicol
00:24:35
Play 13 Ch 01 pt 2 (1488-1543) Champlain: Early French Adventure in North America Jacquerie
00:32:34
Play 14 Ch 02 (1542-1604) LaRoche - Champlain - de Monts Jacquerie
00:24:52
Play 15 Ch 03 (1604, 1605) Acadia Occupied Jacquerie
00:22:20
Play 16 Ch 04 (1605-1607) Lescarbot and Champlain Jacquerie
00:30:34
Play 17 Ch 05 (1610, 1611) The Jesuits and Their Patroness Sibella Denton
00:17:04
Play 18 Ch 06 (1611, 1612) Jesuits in Arcadia Katie Riley
00:18:16
Play 19 Ch 07 (1613) la Saussaye - Argall Mark Penfold
00:15:04
Play 20 Ch 08 (1613-1615) Ruin of French Acadia Sibella Denton
00:14:53
Play 21 Ch 09 (1608, 1609) Champlain at Quebec Sibella Denton
00:19:53
Play 22 Ch 10 (1609) Lake Champlain Sibella Denton
00:18:35
Play 23 Ch 11 (1610-1612) War - Trade - Discovery Sibella Denton
00:20:10
Play 24 Ch 12 (1612, 1613) The Impostor Vignau Sibella Denton
00:21:37
Play 25 Ch 13 (1615) Discovery of Lake Huron Sibella Denton
00:19:49
Play 26 Ch 14 (1615, 1616) The Great War Party Sibella Denton
00:23:56
Play 27 Ch 15 (1616-1627) Hostile Sects - Rival Interests) Sibella Denton
00:20:18
Play 28 Ch 16 (1628, 1629) The English at Quebec Sibella Denton
00:16:24
Play 29 Ch 17 (1632-1635) Death of Champlain Sibella Denton
00:12:37