Any non-fiction reading I do is liberally interrupted by novels, sound gigs, and maybe a smattering of accordion practice, so it's not terribly surprising that it took since February for me to finish "A Great and Noble Scheme, The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from their American Homeland".
It's amazing how the author, John Mack Faragher, ties bureaucratic correspondence, shipping manifests, diarys and other diverse sources into a gripping narrative. This is pretty much the whole story from when the first French settlers (some with very familiar Cajun names) stepped off the boats and met the indigenous Mikmaq, to the fates of deportees in England, Georgia, and the West Indies before some made it to Louisiana.
It's really a very complex story as the lives of Acadian farmers, fishermen, and traders were intertwined with the French and English competition for continental dominance. Greedy and ambitious colonial governors remind one of today's geopolitics. Backstabbing and treachery abound.
480 pages of detailed history isn't a casual stroll, but it's very rewarding for anybody who wants to know about the fires that forged the people who were to found the culture we now know as Cajun.
"A Great and Noble Scheme, The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from their American Homeland" - John Mack Faragher - ISBN 0-393-05135-8: W. W. Norton
Re: More interesting stuff on the Grand dérangement - Winslow's journal
If you have an interest for more material around the Grand dérangement, there are several book I can recommend.
In the interim, here's an interesting link that contains transcripts of the personal journal of Winslow who was a mid-level officer responsible for carrying out the order of deportation. His journal is one of the only pieces that describes in many details the ordeal of the deportation. Here's the link... Bonne lecture.... :-) Maz
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
