“Higginbotham has given to American historiography a microcosmic view of one of the earliest and most important outposts in the colonial new world. The Latin South can henceforth not be ignored.” —Alabama Historical Quarterly

Jay Higginbotham is Director of the Mobile Municipal Archives. Author of thirteen books, he has received five literary awards, including the Gilbert Chinard Prize and the Alabama Library Association Award.

“A landmark in Gulf Coast historiography.” – Florida Historical Quaterly

“The importance of Old Mobile to students of Gulf Coast history can hardly be overstated. There is nothing by an American author that comes close to rivaling it, nor apt to be for several long lifetimes. The scholarship is awesome and exemplary, the detail and accuracy of the narrative unmatched; the writing is good for such a solid piece of scholarship. It is one of the important books in Alabama history.” – Robert R. Rea, Auburn University

“The best book ever written about a French settlement in the United States. . . . It is so good and so significant it presents a major challenge to American historians.” – Journal of the Illinois Historical Society