Land of Big Rivers: French and Indian Illinois, 1699-1778 (Shawnee Books)
“Brilliantly conceived and beautifully written, this book will transform not only the ways we think about the early Illinois Country, but the ways we write environmental history.”—John Mack Faragher, Yale University  “By studying Illinois ecosystems more comprehensively than any previous historian, Morgan demonstrates how the events of the colonial period left legacies that remain with us today.  This is a timely work, reminding us how much our lives have been shaped by recent changes in our natural environment.”—Geoffrey Plank, University of CincinnatiWith a steady intelligence and a graceful style, M.J. Morgan tells an imaginative story as she traces the ecological shifts that French and Indian interaction created in the Illinois country in the eighteenth century.  In doing so, she embeds the Upper Louisiana experience in the natural history of the region.  Reading between the lines and peering through keyholes, Morgan draws on a highly impressive range of skills and disciplines to produce this unique reconstruction of events in colonial Illinois.  A bold account told with sympathy and courage. - Morris S. Arnold