The Atlantic Empire: A History of French Colonialism

Between 1400 and 1800, the people of Europe, Africa, and the Americas grew more connected by overseas trade and colonization. According to historians Christopher Hodson and Brett Rushforth, accounts of this transformative era have overlooked the reach of the pre-Napoleonic French Empire. Hodson and Rushforth, authors of Beyond the Ocean: France and the Atlantic World from the Crusades to the Age of Revolutions, examine the significant role that France played in the history of the Atlantic world and the ways it shaped France in return.