Reviews
Drawing from the 1513-1569 era, Worth transcribes and translates primary sources which highlight the richness of the source base of the lower gulf coast in terms of ethnographic information, first contact experiences, and Spanish views of Florida’s indigenous peoples. . . .an important contribution to the scholarship not only in the transcriptions and translations of the documents, but also for his historical introduction to the work, which. . . .offers one of [the] most important and frequently forgotten lessons of the region: that conquest is not evitable.
--Florida Historical Quarterly
Successfully contributes to the corpus of first-contact studies. . . . The reader gleans a better understanding of the motives and goals of the Spanish as well as the responses and ethnographic dimensions of the native tribes in the region.
--Catholic Southwest: A Journal of History and Culture
Worth provides a simple but clear overview of Florida during the early sixteenth century, [and] effectively contextualizes the creation of documents related to the aforementioned expeditions.
--Journal of Southern History
Excellent. . . . Highly recommended for those who are interested in early contact history, the connections between Florida and the Caribbean . . . and the history of the Indians of the Southeast.
--Hispanic American Historical Review