From the dust cover:

The Complete Story of the American colony to Paris has not as yet seen written. It may never be. Within it are many groups---artistic, diplomatic, educational, professional, social, commercial. These groups have interests in common, but are distinct in their immediate objectives.

In this volume Dr. Cochran has traced the bond that for more than a century has kept these groups from drifting wide apart.

The American Church, according narrative, has played a surprisingly vital part in providing those religious contacts and expressions without which the spirit of such a group would have deteriorated.