None could pierce the future; perhaps none dared contemplate it.
This is the first volume of Francis Parkman’s epic 7-volume, 3,000 page History of France & England in the New World. Am I going to get through all 7? Well, stay-tuned, constant reader, because I will need to be a very constant reader if I do, but for now, let’s talk about this one. This book covers some of the French explorations of areas of Canada and Florida in the 1500s and early 1600s. This series is considered a kind of classic of history and I guess it does bring up the question as to why we continue to read old histories that aren’t primary sources. I mean, it strikes me as very probable that are more modern books I could read to get this information and they might even be more accurate, though I will say that based on Parkman’s footnotes alone, this book seems downright exhaustively researched from primary sources. But I suppose I approach history books kind of the same way I approach all books, which is that they are valuable because of what the writer brings to them. And Parkman brings a real gift for prose certainly. His nature writings and his descriptive passages are beautiful, perhaps even a little florid. He’s also very good at sketching a character in a couple of paragraphs, which helps make the supporting cast come to life. And he’s a downright great story-teller. The first half of this book is the best because it spends a lot of time on the conflicts between the French & the Spanish on the North American continent, so there’s lots of action and adventure. Parkman doesn’t have any illusions about most of the French that he writes about, so he’s critical of them to a degree. But he’s very anti-Spain and so the most compelling character of this book is Pedro Menendez, a blood-thirsty, fanatical religious zealot turned brutally violent explorer. He’s a terrifying villain, painted as a pure psychopath. Do I suspect this anti-Spanish prejudice has resulted in some of this narrative being inaccurate? Yes, I certainly do; but it’s a rousing adventure. The second half of the book loses steam somewhat as Menendez drops out of the story and we focus on Samuel de Champlain. If Parkman is at least somewhat critical of most of the French explorers and the French government, he has a pretty bad case of hero worship when it comes to Champlain and it’s often tedious when an author lionizes someone to the degree Parkman does Champlain here. Still, Parkman’s storytelling gifts keep things moving at a decent clip. On the whole, I enjoyed this book. The prose was consistently worth luxuriating in and the characters and stories were mostly interesting, despite a rather weak ending. But what do I mean “ending?” I’m 1/7th of the way through this thing. Let’s keep going. 3 stars.
tl;dr – beautifully written, if somewhat prejudiced, book explores the 1500s and 1600s on the North American continent; filled with great adventure stories, though it loses steam at the end. 3 stars.