Godfroy presents an engaging analysis of this fascinating chapter in French colonial history. While her study says little about interactions between Europeans and native peoples, unlike many recent works in Atlantic colonial history, she offers helpful detail about the officials who planned the mission as well as the would-be colonists. In doing so, she provides a fresh view of why European colonists ventured to the New World, as well as of the difficulties faced by metropolitan officials planning far-away settlements. (Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall, American Historical Review, Vol. 121 (4), October, 2016)
