They were hunted in their own country. Their homes were seized. Their churches were destroyed. Their children were taken. And the kingdom they helped build tried to erase them from history. In The Huguenots: The Rise, Persecution, and Survival of France’s Lost Protestants, Julien Peltier uncovers the gripping true story of the French Protestant minority who defied kings, survived massacre, and transformed the world after being driven from their homeland. As religious violence tears sixteenth-century France apart, ordinary believers are forced into impossible choices: renounce their faith, flee everything they know, or die where they stand. From the deadly streets of Paris during the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre to the brutal dragonnades of Louis XIV, this sweeping narrative brings to life one of the most dramatic forgotten stories in European history. Inside these pages, you will discover: • how the teachings of John Calvin ignited a spiritual revolution in Catholic France • the secret underground churches that risked everything to survive • the royal court betrayals that plunged France into civil war • the mass exile that sent thousands across Europe, Africa, and America • the hidden legacy the Huguenots left in the modern world More than a story of faith, this is a story of survival. It is the story of how a persecuted people carried their beliefs across continents—and how the nation that cast them out never fully recovered from losing them. For readers who love dramatic history, religious conflict, and untold stories that still matter today, The Huguenots is an unforgettable account of courage under persecution. Some nations build empires. Others destroy their own future.