Colonial Ste. Genevieve : an adventure on the Mississippi frontier /

Ekberg has established a model of research scholarship on the subject of local history. Ste. Genevieve is a classic historic town that heretofore has been the subject of much speculative local tradition but little or no substantial scholarship. Ekberg has brought his training in European history successfully to bear on this small but extremely cosmopolitan frontier community. He has mined French, Spanish, and American archives for every scrap of information about the people and institutions of this fascinating town on the Mississippi. Individual families and their members, local government, scandal, flood, disease, and church affairs are representative of the topics explored. Excellent pictures and maps make this book suitable for every type of library. It should demonstrate to local history buffs how to do local history, and show graduate researchers that it can be done if care is taken. The only weakness in the book lies in its attempt to be exhaustive, which may ultimately try the reader's patience with minutiae.-J.H. O'Donnell III, Marietta College