One of the giants of the Age of Exploration has become a relatively unknown figure in recent years. “Champlain,” the author was asked a few years ago, “why are you writing a book about a lake?” In the wave of political correctness, Champlain’s name had all but disappeared from school curriculums, the author tells us.
David Hackett Fisher sets out to rehabilitate Champlain’s name, and in this thoughtful, comprehensive account of the great explorer’s life and times, he succeeds admirably. More than anyone else, Samuel de Champlain was responsible for the settlement of French Canada.
By the time of his death on Christmas Day 1635, in his beloved Quebec, Champlain had made an incredible 27 Atlantic crossings in 37 years, while never losing a ship. In North America he trekked thousands of miles mapping and recording his impressions as well as befriending most of the Native American tribes with whom he came into contact.
In the introduction to this absorbing book, Fischer laments the late 20th century historical debunking of Champlain and other explorers because they were “empire-builders.”
The author notes that at one point, “apostles of political correctness even tried to ban the word discovery”, the infamous ‘D’ word. Times change, however. “Historians today are returning to the foundations of their discipline,” he tells us. “The scholarship of the early twenty-first century is more mature, more global, more balanced, more empirical, than before.” Champlain’s Dream is David Hackett Fischer’s answer to those who would ban the ‘D’ word.
This is an important book, especially for anyone living in New England or the eastern provinces of Canada. Fischer, a summer resident of Bar Harbor, writes that there are places Champlain discovered where, “it is still possible to explore, only by canoe and kayak, by sailboat and zodiac boat, by snowshoe and some of the best places are accessible only by foot.” By the end of the book one feels ready to take the author up on his suggestions.
Champlain’s first New World voyage (1598-1600) was to the Caribbean, where he spent the time refining his exploring and mapping skills. Downeast readers will be interested to note that in 1604 he explored the coast of present day Maine, including Mt. Desert and the Penobscot river as far north as Bangor. In a particularly interesting chapter entitled Norumbega, Fischer goes into considerable detail describing Champlain’s travels as far south as the Kennebec River.
Champlain was a soldier and explorer; he was a writer, a cartographer, an artist and a naturalist. He was also an ethnographer, fascinated by Native American tribes and their customs. Back in France he was forced to become a Machiavellian, since his plans for new expeditions were always a tough sell at a cost-conscious court. The fact that he gained royal support, however, tells us a lot about Champlain’s skills as a politician.
Champlain’s Dream is also the story of France’s passage from the medieval to the modern world. We see the beginnings of capitalism in France and the transformation of their political system. We are introduced to the international conflicts France faced, as she challenged her European neighbors, particularly England. We also see Champlain (born a Protestant but a convert to Catholicism) caught in the middle of the religious conflicts of his day.
David Hackett Fisher, Warren Professor of History at Brandeis University, is an accomplished historian. I have particularly enjoyed two of his previous books, Paul Revere’s Ride, published in 1994, and Washington’s Crossing, which won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in history, Champlain’s Dream is a worthy successor to each.