English summary: Quebec, a seaport frequented by Normany sailors as early as 1601, had already been noticed in 1535 by the explorer Jacques Cartier. In 1608, Samuel Champlain built a settlement there - the first dwellings of a city that would later become the capital of the French empire in North America - a title it would hold until 1760. The government, which was established in Quebec, created fur-trading posts, to trade with American Indians, all along the waterways and lakes that developed into so many small towns in which the French and natives interacted. At its maximum extent, the territory claimed by France stretched from Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. Some French immigrants settled there who, with the help of the Indians, gradually adapted to the geographical conditions of their new country. They developed an original society which has now spread throughout North America. Today, these descendants include the Quebecois of the City of Quebec and of the Canadian province of the same name. This book, which Raymond Litalien wrote in the form of a guide, retraces a decisive period in the history of this Francophone country. French description: Quebec et les grands espaces a explorer, Quebec et la naissance d'un empire francais d'Amerique. Les multiples facettes de ce lieu, de ses habitants et de leur histoire entre 1608 et 1760, lui composent une identite souvent deroutante. Une societe originale a emerge de cette Nouvelle-France , et Quebec, capitale administrative de la belle province , demeure encore aujourd'hui le fleuron de la francophonie.