While Spanish conquistadores in the Americas seemed bent on plunder and the British on land appropriation, the French became swept up in a complex web of Native alliances. In an unprecedented study, Rony Blum explores how "phantom-mediated" interpretations of the past and present were key to the uniquely successful relationship that developed between the French and Natives. Devastating losses caused by ravaging diseases such as smallpox led to an epidemic of bereavement among the Natives. This loss resonated with the French who had dealt with smaller epidemics in France and who were also mourning their absent communities through a nostalgia for home. Blum traces how "ghosts" provided trans-generational and trans-cultural links that guided understanding instead of encouraging violence. "Ghost Brothers" insightfully examines the process of this colonial interdependent alliance between Native and European worlds.