Building the Devil's Empire

“A brilliant and spirited reinterpretation of the emergence of French New Orleans. Dawdy leads us deep into the daily life of the city, and along the many paths that connected it to France, the North American interior, and the Greater Caribbean. A major contribution to our understanding of the history of the Americas and of the French Atlantic, the work is also a model of interdisciplinary research and analysis, skillfully bringing together archival research, archaeology, and literary analysis.”—Laurent Dubois, Duke University

“Nowadays it is rare to come across an academic monograph that combines literary verve and analytical virtuosity, and rarer still to find it in a book that straddles history and archeology. Shannon Lee Dawdy’s immensely sophisticated study of French Louisiana—the first full-length treatment since World War One—defies easy categorization. Hers is more than a rollicking tale of how rogues, creoles, and utopian planners from three continents conjured from the mud one of the Atlantic World’s quirkiest communities. Building the Devil’s Empire is also a thoughtful meditation on the meaning of colonialism, revolution, and liberal capitalism near the dawn of the modern age. The book is a tour de force.”—Lawrence N. Powell, Tulane University

“Dawdy’s research is thorough and imaginative, and her argument persuasive and important. As the literature on colonial Louisiana grows and improves, Dawdy’s work raises the historical study of New Orleans to an even higher standard and promises to influence future lines of inquiry. In this ambitious and appealing book, she cleverly turns what has made New Orleans marginal to the writing of colonial history—its reputation for disorder and failure—into the essential challenge for understanding the city’s significance.”—Daniel H. Usner Jr., Vanderbilt University