More than 250 years after the British expelled Acadians from the area now known as the Maritimes, the residence of the Queen's representative in New Brunswick played host to the launch of a new textbook that celebrates Acadian history.

Educators and members of New Brunswick's Francophone community gathered at the home of Lieutenant-Governor Herménégilde Chiasson Tuesday for the release of Histoire des Acadiens et des Acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick.

The glossy, 160-page book will be used as part of the social studies program for elementary francophone and French-immersion students in the province.

Maurice Basque of the University of Moncton said the book does not provide a complete, detailed history of the Acadians because it is aimed at elementary students, but he said it does go beyond just the events of history by detailing Acadian culture of the past and of today.