From the Author's Introduction This is the story of one of the great crimes of history, a brutal act of genocide committed two and a half centuries ago.More than 10,000 men, women and children were removed from their homeland at gunpoint and sent into exile. They were stripped of the farms that ad nurtured and sustained their families for four generations. Their homes and most of their possessions were destroyed. Five thousand of these unfortunate people, maybe more, died of disease and deprivation or perished in shipwrecks... The deportation was a deliberate attempt to destroy a people and wipe out a distinct culture. It failed. The Acadians were too tough and too resilient. Today, there are an estimated 3 million Acadian descendants worldwide... Thousands of deportees made their way to Louisiana, where "Acadian" was transmuted to "Cajun," and the new surroundings forged a distinct culture although true to its northern roots. More than half-a-million Americans, most of them in Louisiana and eastern Texas, are descendants of those refugees... The people survived against incredible odds. They preserved a vibrant culture, a zest for life, and a deep respect for their heritage. This is a story of the triumph of the human spirit in the face of cruelty and unimaginable hardship.