Beyond the Ocean: France and the Atlantic World from the Crusades to the Age of Revolutions

by Christopher Hodson, Brett Rushforth

A bold reinterpretation of French colonialism from its medieval roots to the early nineteenth century

Between 1400 and 1800, the people of Europe, Africa, and the Americas grew ever more connected by overseas trade and colonization. Histories of this transformative era have been dominated by Iberian and British experiences, overlooking the vast reach of the pre-Napoleonic French Empire. Yet by the mid-eighteenth century, France claimed nearly a third of North America, ruled over the Caribbean's most profitable and brutal plantations, and controlled a substantial proportion of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

In Beyond the Ocean, Christopher Hodson and Brett Rushforth reveal the significant role that France played in the history of the Atlantic world and the ways the Atlantic shaped France in return. Drawing on expansive original research in multiple languages, they craft an unconventional history of empire that highlights the experiences, priorities, and influence of Native Americans and West Africans, both free and enslaved. French sailors, nuns, smugglers, and weavers also appear as dynamic historical actors who shaped the emerging empire as much as kings and bureaucrats.

Driven by compelling individual stories woven into a sweeping chronological narrative, Beyond the Ocean offers a bold new interpretation of French colonialism that recovers the full complexity of a misunderstood empire and reveals its profound significance to the interconnected Atlantic basin and the early modern world.

Genres: History, France

600 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2026

Reviews

[Ollie Hodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello Christopher and Brett,

I hope you’re both doing well. I’m Ollie Hodge, and I help organise **The Rambling Book Club**, a reader community that enjoys thoughtful books and meaningful discussions.

I recently came across *Beyond the Ocean*, and the idea of tracing France’s relationship with the Atlantic world from the Crusades through the Age of Revolutions immediately caught my attention. The long historical span offers a fascinating opportunity to explore how exploration, trade, empire, migration, and political change connected France to a much wider world.

I’d love to know if you’d be open to having the book considered for a future discussion with our readers. I think it could inspire an engaging conversation about French history, the Atlantic world, empire, cultural exchange, exploration, and the forces that transformed societies across centuries.

If you’re open to it, I’d be happy to share a little more about how our discussions work.

Warm regards,

Ollie Hodge
The Rambling Book Club

[Chris Miller · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

The authors have not severed the 'Gordian Knot,' but have pulled, teased, and released the strands of information and created a detailed, comprehensive, balanced, thorough, and wonderful telling of the rise of the French Colonial Empire. Their work has detailed the 800 years or so that they cover, providing macro and micro looks at the events, people, and situations that reflect the highs and lows, accomplishment and failures of the events. On top of that, it is a very readable and informative work.

[Jaylani Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how the author wrote a book that explained France's role as an imperial power, especially with slavery and colonization. I didn't know that there were West African and Native American populations in France before the decolonization of the French Empire, especially in places like Paris, and Marseilles.

[Ron Nurmi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real tour de force of how France and her colonies changed the world from the Crusades to the 19th century.

If you are interested in colonialism, slavery, and empire, this book is worth the effort.