Book description
One of the darkest events in Canadian history is replete with the drama
of war, politics and untold human suffering. Starting in 1755, 10,000
people of French ancestry were expelled from their homes along Canada's
east coast by a tyrannical British governor with the complicity of
American sympathizers. While some Acadians returned home to try to evade
capture and forge a living, others made their way to the Spanish colony
of Louisiana, where they farmed and fished and began the vibrant
"Cajun" culture that is renowned around the world.
Award-winning author Dean Jobb has written a dramatic and compelling
account of "Le grand derangement" -- the event that was
immortalized in Longfellow's famous poem "Evangeline." Jobb
brings a cast of characters to life so vividly that the reader is
immediately captured by their stories. The richness of detail is
remarkable. The quality of writing is cinematic.
The year 2005 marks the 250th anniversary of the expulsion. This book
is a bridge across the centuries for the descendants of a founding
people of this nation, whose courage and resourcefulness still
resonate in modern-day Acadie.
Dean Jobb is the author the acclaimed Calculated Risk:
Greed, Politics and the Westray Tragedy (Nimbus 1994). He
teaches investigative journalism and media law at the University of
King's College School of Journalism in Halifax, N. S.
