Colonial Ste. Genevieve: An Adventure on the Mississippi Frontier is a comprehensive, award-winning history of the French colonial town of Ste. Genevieve, from its founding in about 1750 to the Louisiana Purchase. Ekberg covers all aspects of the town during this period, including politics, agriculture, family life, and religion, and places Ste. Genevieve within the context of the history of the colonial Illinois Country. 

“Ekberg’s work is among the current best in a field usually labeled borderlands history. . . . The analysis and narrative in Colonial Ste. Genevieve disclose a world that cannot be excluded from any revised understanding of American history.”—Journal of Southern History

“This is a good story well told. . . . Ekberg vividly recaptures the experience of French life on the Mississippi.”—American Historical Review

“Ekberg has combined years of meticulous research in the archives of France, Spain, Canada, and the United States with his own extensive knowledge of early modern European history to produce a nearly encyclopedic narrative. But unlike an encyclopedia, the book is sown with enough fascinating anecdotes to inspire a dozen novels.”—Illinois Historical Journal