Frontenac: The Courtier Governor

Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac (1622–1698), was a towering figure in North American history. Appointed in 1672 as governor general of New France, he was credited with intimidating the Iroquois, defying British colonial military might, and promoting France’s imperial expansion to the west. W. J. Eccles masterfully debunks these myths, created in part by Francis Parkman, and reveals Frontenac as an anachronism who sought to maintain his privileged status through corruption, favors at court, and the illicit pursuit of commerce in the West. A deft analysis and reexamination of official administrative and military sources have made Frontenac the classic study of a complex and historically misrepresented governor.

W. J. Eccles was a professor of history at the University of Toronto and wrote several classic works on New France, including The Canadian Frontier, 1534–1760 and The French in North America, 1500–1765. Peter Moogk is a professor of history at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of La Nouvelle France: The Making of French Canada and Building a House in New France.