Photo: National Battlefields Commission

"It was a very nice way of commemorating the battle," said Andre Juneau, President of the National Battlefields Commission.

Juneau was referring to Combattre pour la France en Amerique: Les Soldats de la Guerre de Sept Ans en Nouvelle France, a new book commemorating practically all of the soldiers who fought on the French side during the Seven Years War. This year marks the 250th anniversary of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.

A memorial of the battle has been placed approximately 200 feet to the left of Rue King George VI, where it will be easily visible from tourist buses that pass through the Plains, Juneau said.

The book chronicles the lives of 7,450 of the 7,878 French soldiers who fought in the war between 1755 and 1762, according to Gisele Monarque, president of the Societe Genealogique Canadienne-Francaise.

The idea for the book, which took three years to write, was born in 2005. Finally, it was finished two months ago. The book was edited by project Director Marcel Fournier with help from Suzanne Galaise, Rénald Lessard, Luc Lépine, Micheline Perreault, Jean-Yves Bronze, Mireille Pailleux and Jessica Bolduc. It was released last week to coincide with start of the battle on September 12, 1759.

"We received a proposal from the genealogical society," said Juneau. "We exchanged a lot of information."

For Juneau, whose ancestor, Nicolas Juneau, died in the Battle of Sainte-Foy in 1760, the book holds special meaning.

"It's the first time we have this book," said Juneau, "and it seems there's an association that is doing the same thing for Wolfe."

General James Wolfe, led the British forces on the Plains, died in the battle as did the French commander, Louis-Joseph Marquis de Montcalm.

Though Combattre pour la France en Amerique was somewhat difficult to assemble, the British book will be somewhat more complex, said Juneau.

"It's a little bit more complicated," said Juneau, "because the nurses would only care for the British soldiers."

A second book, written by Jacques Mathieu and titled L'Annedda, l'arbe de vie, details the participation of the First Nations in the conflicts that took place during the Seven Years War.

The book, which takes its name from a tree whose properties offered a cure for the deadly disease scurvy suffered by crew members traveling with Jacques Cartier, was launched Tuesday.