In his new book Ghost Empire, Philip Marchand re-traces the 17th century explorations of Robert de La Salle through the heart of North America. He tells the tale of France's attempt to claim the continent, an attempt which nearly succeeded, and uncovers the echoes of that history in present day America. Part history, part travel and part memoir (the author's ancestors came to French Canada at the same time as La Salle), Ghost Empire is a stirring meditation on what endures as well as what is lost through the centuries. It explores the spiritual legacy of the French in America, and the implications of that legacy in everything from race relations to religion in America today.

"Philip Marchand's achievement amounts to historical literature of a very high order. In its way, it is an example, or even a forerunner, of a new genre: a compound of historical reconstruction and of its writer's emphatic participation in his subject. The result is masterful and authentic. Its sense of what happened and what that meant (and still means) is more than informative; it breathes through the climate of Marchand's fineness of writing."
-John Lukacs, author of A History of the Cold War, The Passing of the Modern Age, The Hitler of History, Democracy and Populism: Fear and Hatred.

"North America has its forgotten histories, and most prominent among them is of the French and their close relations with the natives of the continent. Philip Marchand's Ghost Empire makes the ghosts of that history vivid, not only in terms of the haunting past, but in terms of the haunted descendants. A French North America was a world that might have been, a world fascinating for what it promised and what, by its defeat, was lost. Ghost Empire is a revelation."
-David Plante, author of The Family, Difficult Women and American Ghosts: A Memoir

"Marchand [writes] with a clear, frank voice and expert use of understatement, so refreshing in such an earnest discipline as history. And then there are the quips, those digestible, irresistible turns of phrase that show a writer and thinker at play. . . . Far from frivolous, Ghost Empire is a chronicle of the French legacy sprawled across this continent, imaginary or real, a chronicle of exploration and loss."
-Quill & Quire

"Ghost Empire made me understand North America differently; it has some of the impact of Pierre Berton's best books, but is more personal, at times even spiritual, in its consideration of place, identity and possibility."
-Books in Canada

"What Marchand delivers doesn't have a dull moment in it. Canada's last book critic, it turns out, is among its best writers. Highly recommended, even if you're not normally interested in history."
-Vancouver Review

"Goes a long way in reclaiming a portion of La Salle's legacy for all Canadians."
-Maclean's

"A gripping historical read."
-The Gazette (Montreal)

"An engaging and satisfying travelogue/memoir that charts the journeys of 17th-century explorer Robert de la Salle to arrive at an understanding of modern-day French culture across the continent."
-National Post

"An idiosyncratic and engaging read…a big-hearted book which serves as a reminder that 'our existence is richer than we know.'"
-Canadian Geographic

"If it's possible for people to internalize their history, then here is an inveigling and thoughtful example from the book critic of the Toronto Star."
-Booklist