La Florida: When Spain 'Discovered' Florida and Two Proud Nations Clashed

Swashbuckling Pedro Menéndez and his explorers reached South Florida hoping to find gold and silver. Theyd also make Christians of docile natives who would happily mine ore and raise crops for the tables of Europe. Instead they confronted a fearsome confederation of tribes that had been a nation for longer than Spain itself. An epic story true to actual dates and events. But its told through the life of a Calusa Indian boy from gathering fibers and berries for his single mother to his crucial role in the court of a cruel despot. It also follows the ambitious Menéndez as he persuades a reluctant Spanish king to finance The Enterprise of Florida then struggles to sustain a chain of forts along its coasts. And scarcely a day passes without clashes of culture religion and weapons between two proud peoples. Yes theres a winner but few heroes. NOTE: La Florida is a revised paperback edition of the book The Cross and the Mask which won the Florida Historical Societys Patrick Smith Award in 2014 for best adult fiction.