2 2 M Q U P S P R I N G 2 0 1 8 A R C H I T E C T U R E • A R T H I S T O R Y Architecture and Urbanism in the French Atlantic Empire State, Church, and Society, 1604–1830 gauvin alexander bailey A pioneering reconstruction of the architecture, urban planning, and gardens of France’s empire in the Atlantic. S P E C I F I C AT I O N S McGill-Queen’s French Atlantic Worlds Series June 2018 978-0-7735-5314-9 $75.00A CDN, $75.00A US, £62.00 cloth 8.25 x 10 696pp 287 images, 5 maps eBook available Spanning from the West African coast to the Canadian prairies and south to Louisiana, the Caribbean, and Guiana, France’s Atlantic em- pire was one of the largest political entities in the Western Hemisphere. Yet despite France’s status as a nation at the forefront of architec- ture and the structures and designs from this period that still remain, its colonial building program has never been considered on a hemi- spheric scale. Drawing from hundreds of plans, drawings, photographic field surveys, and extensive archival sources, Architecture and Urbanism in the French Atlantic Empire focuses on the French state’s and the Catholic Church’s ideals and motivations for their urban and architec- tural projects in the Americas. In vibrant detail, Gauvin Alexander Bailey recreates a world that has been largely destroyed by wars, natural disasters, and fires – from Cap-François (now Cap-Haïtien), which once boasted palaces in the styles of Louis XV and formal gardens pat- terned after Versailles, to failed utopian cities like Kourou in Guiana. Vividly illustrated with examples of grand buildings, churches, and gar- dens, as well as simple houses and cottages, this volume also brings to life the architects who built these structures, not only French military engineers and white civilian builders, but also the free people of colour and slaves who con- tributed so much to the tropical colonies. Taking readers on a historical tour through the striking landmarks of the French colonial landscape, Architecture and Urbanism in the French Atlantic Empire presents a sweeping panorama of an entire hemisphere of architec- ture and its legacy. Gauvin Alexander Bailey is professor and Alfred and Isabel Bader Chair in Southern Baroque Art at Queen’s University.