Winner, Evelyn Richardson Award for Non-Fiction and Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing Finalist, Dartmouth Book Award for Non-Fiction, and the Margaret and John Savage Award for Best First Book (Non-fiction) A Hill Times' 100 Best Books in 2020 Selection On Canada's History Bestseller List Growing up on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Tyler LeBlanc wasn't fully aware of his family's Acadian roots -- until a chance encounter with an Acadian historian prompted him to delve into his family history. LeBlanc's discovery that he could trace his family all the way to the time of the Acadian Expulsion and beyond forms the basis of this compelling account of Le Grand Dérangement. Piecing together his family history through archival documents, Tyler LeBlanc tells the story of Joseph LeBlanc (his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather), Joseph's ten siblings, and their families. With descendants scattered across modern-day Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the LeBlancs provide a window into the diverse fates that awaited the Acadians when they were expelled from their homeland. Some escaped the deportation and were able to retreat into the wilderness. Others found their way back to Acadie. But many were exiled to Britain, France, or the future United States, where they faced suspicion and prejudice and struggled to settle into new lives. A unique biographical approach to the history of the Expulsion, Acadian Driftwood is a vivid insight into one family's experience of this traumatic event.

In August 2014 at the Congres Mondial Acadien, the Acadian communities in Canada and the United States will commemorate the Grand Derangement (Expulsion) in 1755 when they were transported, under great duress, from their homes in Acadia to Louisiana. The Acadians were emigrants from France who settled in the Acadia region ( New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Maine) and built a rich culture there until the British expelled them during the French and Indian Wars. Their homes were burned, family members were separated, and they were scattered along the Eastern Seaboard, with the majority resettling in Louisiana, near Lafayette. Here the Acadians became Cajuns, developing their own language and a lively musical culture that evolved into Zydeco. The expulsion became the basis for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's legendary poem, Evangeline -- and for the song Acadian Driftwood, written by Robbie Robertson and performed by The Band. American Songwriter magazine called "Acadian Driftwood" a masterpiece of Acadian music . This book provides the history of Acadian and Cajun music from pre-expulsion to the revival of this music today, written by Paul-Emile Comeau, a direct descendant of the original French settlers and the premier historian of Acadian and Cajun music. He has written the National Geographic and Rough Guide encyclopedia entries for Acadian, Cajun, and Zydeco music. He has produced a 13-part series called the "Connexion Acadiene" for CBC radio and NPR.

In 1755, on the eve of the Seven Years' War, fifteen-year-old Nola and her Acadian parents face expulsion from Grand Pré by the British. Nola, her friends Hector and Jocelyne, Nola's grandfather, and a band of bold teenagers manage to flee by boat only to encounter challenges tougher than their wildest imaginings. Their destination is French-occupied Fort Louisbourg, but along the way hostile soldiers, a harsh environment, enigmatic Mi'kmaq, and superpowers at war turn their journey into a series of hair-raising adventures. As it turns out, the runaways' route to freedom may be rudimentary technology. Using raw gypsum, limestone, coal, and salt, they forge coal-oil fire bombs that keep their attackers at bay for a short time but not long enough to ensure their survival. Will the resourceful teenagers finally discover what it takes to prevail in a continent poised on the edge of irrevocable change?

Over 425 reels, jigs, set-tunes, waltzes, marches, strathspeys, and airs transcribed from the playing of traditional fiddlers make this a must have title

"Altogether superb: an accessible, fluent account that advances scholarship while building a worthy memorial to the victims of two and a half centuries past." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) In 1755, New England troops embarked on a "great and noble scheme" to expel 18,000 French-speaking Acadians ("the neutral French") from Nova Scotia, killing thousands, separating innumerable families, and driving many into forests where they waged a desperate guerrilla resistance. The right of neutrality; to live in peace from the imperial wars waged between France and England; had been one of the founding values of Acadia; its settlers traded and intermarried freely with native Mikmaq Indians and English Protestants alike. But the Acadians' refusal to swear unconditional allegiance to the British Crown in the mid-eighteenth century gave New Englanders, who had long coveted Nova Scotia's fertile farmland, pretense enough to launch a campaign of ethnic cleansing on a massive scale. John Mack Faragher draws on original research to weave 150 years of history into a gripping narrative of both the civilization of Acadia and the British plot to destroy it.