Summary
While he tells a compelling story, [David Hackett Fischer] is also a skilled historian who shows the reader the evidence on which his story rests. Drawing on new research by historians in Quebec and France, he describes the economic, social and cultural contexts that shaped [Samuel de Champlain]'s thinking.
Competing French merchants tried to block his plans. Investors were often hard to come by, as were colonists. Powerful French officials saw Quebec as a distraction from France's European priorities. Patrons were sidetracked by the politics of the royal court. The result was that between 1608 and 1635 Champlain criss-crossed the Atlantic more than 20 times to rally supporters and fend off opponents in France.The chief novelty of Fischer's argument is his claim that Champlain was not merely a colonizer but a war-weary visionary driven by a Christian-humanist view of a world where "people of different cultures could live together in amity and concord."See the full content of this document
Extract
Champlain Biography Absorbing Portrait
Champlain's Dream
By David Hackett FischerKnopf Canada, 848 pages, $37IN 2004, in a depressing display of historical amnesia, participants in the CBC's contest to find the greatest Canadian failed to include anyone fro...See the full content of this document
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