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Finding Florida: The True History of the Sunshine State
Over the centuries, Florida has been many things: an unconquered realm protected by geography, a wilderness that ruined Spanish conquistadors, “god’s waiting room,” and a place to start over. Depopulated after the extermination of its original native population, today it’s home to nineteen million. The site of vicious racial violence, including massacres, slavery, and the roll-back of Reconstruction, Florida is now one of our most diverse states, a dynamic multicultural place with an essential role in 21st-century America.
In Finding Florida, journalist T.D. Allman reclaims the remarkable history of Florida from the state’s mythologizers, apologists, and boosters. Allman traces the discovery, exploration, and settlement of Florida, its transformation from a swamp to “paradise.” Palm Beach, Key West, Miami, Tampa, and Orlando boomed, fortunes were won and lost, land was stolen and flipped, and millions arrived. The product of a decade of research and writing, Finding Florida is a highly original, stylish, and masterful work, the first modern comprehensive history of this fascinating place.
In Finding Florida, journalist T.D. Allman reclaims the remarkable history of Florida from the state’s mythologizers, apologists, and boosters. Allman traces the discovery, exploration, and settlement of Florida, its transformation from a swamp to “paradise.” Palm Beach, Key West, Miami, Tampa, and Orlando boomed, fortunes were won and lost, land was stolen and flipped, and millions arrived. The product of a decade of research and writing, Finding Florida is a highly original, stylish, and masterful work, the first modern comprehensive history of this fascinating place.
528 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
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928 people want to read
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April 25, 2013
I'll sum up my feelings on this book in three words for those who scan reviews looking for some assessment: depressing, demoralizing and disheartening.
It's quite clear that native Floridian and author T.D. Allman did extensive research on his new book Finding Florida, but for this reader, a former Florida resident for many years, it's apparent that there should have been some fact checking done before publication. Mr. Allman is highly-educated author and an accomplished journalist, with years of experience under his belt, and should be quite experienced with the checking of facts.
Finding Florida: Fact, subjective journalism or diatribe?
The book starts off well, and his Prologue kicks the theme off well, with somewhat snarky mentions of Florida's unique geography, the search for gold by Spanish explorers, sinkholes, alligators and palmetto bugs (referred to as "Floridaese for giant flying cockroaches"), which made this former resident smile, as many of us had poked jibes at these for many years. Then there was this passage:
Will admit that I laughed at this and a few more descriptions... until I reached page viii, where part of a sentence jumped out at me: "Florida lacks alluvial soil..."
This statement jolted me, remembering back to junior high in Florida when I received a verbal smack down from a teacher for missing the words in a quiz. Florida has no alluvial soil? It's mentioned in Hollee Temple's 2006 offering, The Florida Quiz Book, in reference to the state's alluvial sinkholes on page 116, and again on page 125, regarding the classifications of the state's rivers. Alluvial is the first one mentioned. I won't get into the alluvial soil that exists in Paynes Prairie, just south of Gainesville, which is well remembered from my own college days there.
This may seem picky, but it's an example, and it had me putting a multitude of Post-It notes throughout the +500 pages of this book, then going onto the 'Net to see if others had stumbled into errors in this book. I was not alone; there were a number of them, with the most prominent being published by the Tampa Bay Times on April 3, 2013, entitled "Finding flaws in 'Finding Florida' by T.D. Allman" in which the staff writers Jeff Klinkenberg and Craig Pittman noted that they 'kept finding forehead-slapping errors' among other things. Note that the writers had emailed the book author, asking how he committed so many errors. The author first announced that he was going to ignore them, then sent a two-page letter, which can also be seen at the above link. There are always two or more sides to every story.
For this reader, it became an exercise in trying to avoid the minefields of the errors while trying to enjoy the book, but by the end my copy was bristling with Post-It notes from a few pads. What had started off as an enjoyable anticipated read had declined into a wearisome exercise of reading an author's often highly-subjective comments about the history of the so-called Sunshine State. There were parts where this reader could laugh, as some seemed to be spot on. Other parts seemed to be pure drivel, but there's no point in dwelling on them here. I won't pick apart the errors, as others have done that more eruditely.
The back cover calls this "the first modern history of this important place," though that might be considered to be quite subjective. Author Allman does cover the history of Florida from the time of Juan Ponce de León to Trayvon Martin, and some of what we read can be illuminating. But there has always been a myth enveloping the state, ever since the elusive search for gold and the Fountain of Youth, so its story has been written and re-written many times over. Why should this version be any different?
If you want straightforward journalism about the state, fellow Florida native Carl Hiaasen's 1999 classic Kick Ass might be a better source, which highlights some of his best columns from the Miami Herald. That's just a subjective opinion.
As an authoritative and definitive history, it wasn't that for this reader. As an interesting and decently written work, it's probably at best a good 3-star read, about the same as his earlier Rogue State: America at War with the World. If you read the author's new work as historical fiction, or perhaps +500 pages of often-snarky journalism, you might find it to be better.
Finding Florida was a book that I hoped to enjoy. Instead, I found it to be depressing, demoralizing and disheartening, as noted in the beginning. The reader will have to determine if it's fact, subjective journalism or diatribe.
Note: this review appeared earlier on Amazon.com in a different form.
It's quite clear that native Floridian and author T.D. Allman did extensive research on his new book Finding Florida, but for this reader, a former Florida resident for many years, it's apparent that there should have been some fact checking done before publication. Mr. Allman is highly-educated author and an accomplished journalist, with years of experience under his belt, and should be quite experienced with the checking of facts.
Finding Florida: Fact, subjective journalism or diatribe?
The book starts off well, and his Prologue kicks the theme off well, with somewhat snarky mentions of Florida's unique geography, the search for gold by Spanish explorers, sinkholes, alligators and palmetto bugs (referred to as "Floridaese for giant flying cockroaches"), which made this former resident smile, as many of us had poked jibes at these for many years. Then there was this passage:
"Florida is the Play-Doh State. Take the goo; mold it to your dream. Then watch the dream ooze back into goo. People are constantly ruining Florida; Florida is constantly ruining them back."
Will admit that I laughed at this and a few more descriptions... until I reached page viii, where part of a sentence jumped out at me: "Florida lacks alluvial soil..."
This statement jolted me, remembering back to junior high in Florida when I received a verbal smack down from a teacher for missing the words in a quiz. Florida has no alluvial soil? It's mentioned in Hollee Temple's 2006 offering, The Florida Quiz Book, in reference to the state's alluvial sinkholes on page 116, and again on page 125, regarding the classifications of the state's rivers. Alluvial is the first one mentioned. I won't get into the alluvial soil that exists in Paynes Prairie, just south of Gainesville, which is well remembered from my own college days there.
This may seem picky, but it's an example, and it had me putting a multitude of Post-It notes throughout the +500 pages of this book, then going onto the 'Net to see if others had stumbled into errors in this book. I was not alone; there were a number of them, with the most prominent being published by the Tampa Bay Times on April 3, 2013, entitled "Finding flaws in 'Finding Florida' by T.D. Allman" in which the staff writers Jeff Klinkenberg and Craig Pittman noted that they 'kept finding forehead-slapping errors' among other things. Note that the writers had emailed the book author, asking how he committed so many errors. The author first announced that he was going to ignore them, then sent a two-page letter, which can also be seen at the above link. There are always two or more sides to every story.
For this reader, it became an exercise in trying to avoid the minefields of the errors while trying to enjoy the book, but by the end my copy was bristling with Post-It notes from a few pads. What had started off as an enjoyable anticipated read had declined into a wearisome exercise of reading an author's often highly-subjective comments about the history of the so-called Sunshine State. There were parts where this reader could laugh, as some seemed to be spot on. Other parts seemed to be pure drivel, but there's no point in dwelling on them here. I won't pick apart the errors, as others have done that more eruditely.
The back cover calls this "the first modern history of this important place," though that might be considered to be quite subjective. Author Allman does cover the history of Florida from the time of Juan Ponce de León to Trayvon Martin, and some of what we read can be illuminating. But there has always been a myth enveloping the state, ever since the elusive search for gold and the Fountain of Youth, so its story has been written and re-written many times over. Why should this version be any different?
If you want straightforward journalism about the state, fellow Florida native Carl Hiaasen's 1999 classic Kick Ass might be a better source, which highlights some of his best columns from the Miami Herald. That's just a subjective opinion.
As an authoritative and definitive history, it wasn't that for this reader. As an interesting and decently written work, it's probably at best a good 3-star read, about the same as his earlier Rogue State: America at War with the World. If you read the author's new work as historical fiction, or perhaps +500 pages of often-snarky journalism, you might find it to be better.
Finding Florida was a book that I hoped to enjoy. Instead, I found it to be depressing, demoralizing and disheartening, as noted in the beginning. The reader will have to determine if it's fact, subjective journalism or diatribe.
Note: this review appeared earlier on Amazon.com in a different form.
June 29, 2014
I first posted this review of T. D. Allman's badly flawed history book in April 2013, shortly after it was published. For some reason Goodreads deleted that review so I am reposting it:
T.D. Allman's book Finding Florida is subtitled "The True Story of the Sunshine State" because it's supposed to correct all the myths and mistakes in the other Florida history books. But while reading it I kept finding forehead-slapping errors. You'd forgive a couple of goofs in a 500-page book, but after a while you wonder if your tour guide is Cliff Clavin. Here's a partial list:
1. The Australian pine is now “one of the principal threats to the Everglades.” p. 31. Actually the plants that are the biggest threats to the Everglades are melaleuca, Brazilian pepper and Old World climbing fern.
2. "The Ku Klux Klan made common cause with the mafiosi" to break Ybor City unions (p. 421). Not just wrong but unlikely, given the Klan's hatred for Catholics, says Gary Mormino, co-author of "The Immigrant World of Ybor City," one of the books that Allman cites as his source. "I never came across any mention of a connection between the KKK and the Trafficantes," says Scott Deitche, author of "Cigar City Mafia," another book Allman cites as his source. "Sounds like a real stretch."
3. He describes the manned space program as “failing to fulfill any scientific purpose” (p. 394). In addition to putting men on the moon, the manned space program also yielded such spinoff technology as kidney dialysis machines and fetal heart monitors.
4. "Florida lacks alluvial soil ..." (p. xiii) ...except in North Florida, where American Indians used alluvial clay deposits to make pots and utensils.
5. Mentioning a plaque that marks an oak tree in Bradenton under which Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto supposedly parlayed with Florida natives, Allman adds, “but the oak is not native to this part of Florida” (p. 16). Well, actually, yes it is, according to fossil records of pollen, says ecologist and native plant expert Craig Huegel.
6. About the naming of the state: "It was not because of any profusion of flowers. Look into any Florida backyard; even today you'll see a somber palette of greens" (p. 7). The guidebook "Florida Wild Flowers" features 500 colorful entries such as scarlet morning glories, meadow beauty and purple passionflowers.
7. "Palms ... are not native to Florida" (p. 119).The Florida silver palm, the Keys thatch palm and the sabal palm — the state tree — are all natives.
8. “The Yearling” was Marjory Kinnan Rawlings’ “only literary triumph.” (p. 353) Rawlings’ novel “South Moon Under” was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her memoir “Cross Creek” was chosen as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. “Both ‘Cross Creek’ and ‘Cross Creek Cookery’ were runaway bestsellers,” says Florence Turcotte, curator of the Marjory Kinnan Rawlings papers at the University of Florida.
9. "Rawlings' initial purpose in relocating to Florida from Washington, D.C., was to make money growing citrus; when her trees died, she turned to writing" (p. 354) Actually Rawlings was already a published writer when she moved to Florida, and her intention was to use the proceeds from her citrus grove to pay the bills while she continued writing.
10. “With her citrus grove failing and her literary endeavors failing as well,” Rawlings “took in boarders at Castle Warden” (p. 334-335). Rawlings never struggled financially after she published “The Yearling,” says Turcotte, in part because of the $30,000 she got for selling the movie rights. As for Castle Warden, the St. Augustine mansion had been turned into a hotel before it was bought by Rawlings’ husband prior to their being married. (It’s now the home of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.)
11.. “Rita Mae Brown had become the most successful Florida-born author since Zora Neale Hurston...” ( p. 443). A two-fer. Zora Neale Hurston was born in Notasulga, Ala., and Rita Mae Brown was born in Pennsylvania, so neither one of them was “Florida-born.”
12. Regarding Panhandle beach condominiums: "When the killer hurricanes of the early 2000s struck, many of these monstrosities became high-rise death traps" (p. 390). Hurricanes Dennis, Jeanne, Frances and Ivan killed people with falling trees, crashing cars and drowning. NO ONE was killed by a collapsing condo.
13. “Up North (Gov. Rick Scott) made his fortune turning hospitals into profit centers.” (p. 445). While Scott was born in Illinois and raised in Missouri, he made his fortune in Texas, where Scott was a lawyer, a hospital company executive and part-owner of the Texas Rangers. NOT up North.
14. “No serious science took place in Florida, for reasons going back before the Civil War.” (p. 398) This will likely come as a shock to all the biologists, geologists, archaeologists, oceanographers and other scientists doing research here, not to mention the physicists at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee.
15.. “By 1960, Pinellas County (county seat: St. Petersburg)...” (p. 362). Actually the county seat has been Clearwater ever since Pinellas was created in 1912. This was a particularly sloppy error, since Allman grew up in the Tampa Bay area.
16. Carl Hiaasen’s 1986 novel “Hurricane Season” was “the first of his Florida novels” and “launched a genre of his own.” (p. 475) In fact, Hiaasen had co-written two previous serious novels set in Florida before producing the 1986 screwball-noir novel that set the tone for his future fiction. It's titled “Tourist Season," not "Hurricane Season." (PS: Allman also refers to Hiaasen as a "loser," which seems odd given his success as a novelist for both adults and children.)
17. "Sludgy black oil" from Deepwater Horizon "surrounded ... islands" (p. 416). Oil washed up on the beaches of eight counties, but both BP and the Department of Environmental Protection say no Florida barrier island was ever "surrounded."
18. The Rogers Commission investigating the Challenger space shuttle disaster was, with the sole exception of physicist Richard Feynman, “composed of people committed to reassuring the American public that all was well with NASA” (p. 391). How about ex-astronaut Sally Ride, though? During the hearings she got up from the commission table and openly hugged the engineer who had warned NASA officials that the shuttle’s O-rings could fail in cold weather. “She was the only panelist to offer him support,” the New York Times reported.
19. “Florida has no granite or quartz’’ (p. 22) Florida’s beach sands are commonly composed of quartz crystals, according to the Florida Geological Survey.
20. "There hasn't been an election yet in which Florida's poor white men didn't vote to perpetuate the privileges of its rich white men, so long as it helped keep black Americans in their place" (p. 445) Barack Obama won the state in 2008 and 2012 by such a big margin that he presumably got support from at least a few white male voters.
21. "Though St. Augustine owes its existence to Pedro Menendez de Aviles, no statue, park or monument there preserves his name" (p. 44) In the park-like courtyard in front of the Lightener Museum which is on King Street directly facing Flagler College (the former Ponce de Leon Hotel) is a statue of Menendez that has stood there since 1972. In addition, St. Augustine holds an annual celebration of its founding that includes a reenactment of the landing by Menendez.
22. "The actual Suwannee River is little more than a backwater trench..." p. 340. "That's a 'fact' that has escaped any of us who have ever boated or camped along this scenic waterway," Tom Palmer of the Lakeland Ledger wrote.
Some of these errors might seem trivial, but others are so far off-base that they undercut the point he's trying to make in that section of the book. Taken as a whole they make you wonder about the veracity of the author's approach to writing history.
There are also some huge omissions in the book -- scant mention of the Everglades, for instance, and none at all of the huge impact that World War II had on the state's future (troop training here saved the state's economy in the post-Depression era, and led to ex-servicemen coming back to live here and also, indirectly, to the establishment of NASA in Brevard County). The omission that truly amazed me was the life and death of Harry T. Moore, the first civil rights leader to be martyred to the cause. Moore's valiant life and death are covered ably by Gilbert King in the Pulitzer-winning Devil in the Grove, a far, far superior Florida history book than this one.
T.D. Allman's book Finding Florida is subtitled "The True Story of the Sunshine State" because it's supposed to correct all the myths and mistakes in the other Florida history books. But while reading it I kept finding forehead-slapping errors. You'd forgive a couple of goofs in a 500-page book, but after a while you wonder if your tour guide is Cliff Clavin. Here's a partial list:
1. The Australian pine is now “one of the principal threats to the Everglades.” p. 31. Actually the plants that are the biggest threats to the Everglades are melaleuca, Brazilian pepper and Old World climbing fern.
2. "The Ku Klux Klan made common cause with the mafiosi" to break Ybor City unions (p. 421). Not just wrong but unlikely, given the Klan's hatred for Catholics, says Gary Mormino, co-author of "The Immigrant World of Ybor City," one of the books that Allman cites as his source. "I never came across any mention of a connection between the KKK and the Trafficantes," says Scott Deitche, author of "Cigar City Mafia," another book Allman cites as his source. "Sounds like a real stretch."
3. He describes the manned space program as “failing to fulfill any scientific purpose” (p. 394). In addition to putting men on the moon, the manned space program also yielded such spinoff technology as kidney dialysis machines and fetal heart monitors.
4. "Florida lacks alluvial soil ..." (p. xiii) ...except in North Florida, where American Indians used alluvial clay deposits to make pots and utensils.
5. Mentioning a plaque that marks an oak tree in Bradenton under which Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto supposedly parlayed with Florida natives, Allman adds, “but the oak is not native to this part of Florida” (p. 16). Well, actually, yes it is, according to fossil records of pollen, says ecologist and native plant expert Craig Huegel.
6. About the naming of the state: "It was not because of any profusion of flowers. Look into any Florida backyard; even today you'll see a somber palette of greens" (p. 7). The guidebook "Florida Wild Flowers" features 500 colorful entries such as scarlet morning glories, meadow beauty and purple passionflowers.
7. "Palms ... are not native to Florida" (p. 119).The Florida silver palm, the Keys thatch palm and the sabal palm — the state tree — are all natives.
8. “The Yearling” was Marjory Kinnan Rawlings’ “only literary triumph.” (p. 353) Rawlings’ novel “South Moon Under” was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her memoir “Cross Creek” was chosen as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. “Both ‘Cross Creek’ and ‘Cross Creek Cookery’ were runaway bestsellers,” says Florence Turcotte, curator of the Marjory Kinnan Rawlings papers at the University of Florida.
9. "Rawlings' initial purpose in relocating to Florida from Washington, D.C., was to make money growing citrus; when her trees died, she turned to writing" (p. 354) Actually Rawlings was already a published writer when she moved to Florida, and her intention was to use the proceeds from her citrus grove to pay the bills while she continued writing.
10. “With her citrus grove failing and her literary endeavors failing as well,” Rawlings “took in boarders at Castle Warden” (p. 334-335). Rawlings never struggled financially after she published “The Yearling,” says Turcotte, in part because of the $30,000 she got for selling the movie rights. As for Castle Warden, the St. Augustine mansion had been turned into a hotel before it was bought by Rawlings’ husband prior to their being married. (It’s now the home of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.)
11.. “Rita Mae Brown had become the most successful Florida-born author since Zora Neale Hurston...” ( p. 443). A two-fer. Zora Neale Hurston was born in Notasulga, Ala., and Rita Mae Brown was born in Pennsylvania, so neither one of them was “Florida-born.”
12. Regarding Panhandle beach condominiums: "When the killer hurricanes of the early 2000s struck, many of these monstrosities became high-rise death traps" (p. 390). Hurricanes Dennis, Jeanne, Frances and Ivan killed people with falling trees, crashing cars and drowning. NO ONE was killed by a collapsing condo.
13. “Up North (Gov. Rick Scott) made his fortune turning hospitals into profit centers.” (p. 445). While Scott was born in Illinois and raised in Missouri, he made his fortune in Texas, where Scott was a lawyer, a hospital company executive and part-owner of the Texas Rangers. NOT up North.
14. “No serious science took place in Florida, for reasons going back before the Civil War.” (p. 398) This will likely come as a shock to all the biologists, geologists, archaeologists, oceanographers and other scientists doing research here, not to mention the physicists at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee.
15.. “By 1960, Pinellas County (county seat: St. Petersburg)...” (p. 362). Actually the county seat has been Clearwater ever since Pinellas was created in 1912. This was a particularly sloppy error, since Allman grew up in the Tampa Bay area.
16. Carl Hiaasen’s 1986 novel “Hurricane Season” was “the first of his Florida novels” and “launched a genre of his own.” (p. 475) In fact, Hiaasen had co-written two previous serious novels set in Florida before producing the 1986 screwball-noir novel that set the tone for his future fiction. It's titled “Tourist Season," not "Hurricane Season." (PS: Allman also refers to Hiaasen as a "loser," which seems odd given his success as a novelist for both adults and children.)
17. "Sludgy black oil" from Deepwater Horizon "surrounded ... islands" (p. 416). Oil washed up on the beaches of eight counties, but both BP and the Department of Environmental Protection say no Florida barrier island was ever "surrounded."
18. The Rogers Commission investigating the Challenger space shuttle disaster was, with the sole exception of physicist Richard Feynman, “composed of people committed to reassuring the American public that all was well with NASA” (p. 391). How about ex-astronaut Sally Ride, though? During the hearings she got up from the commission table and openly hugged the engineer who had warned NASA officials that the shuttle’s O-rings could fail in cold weather. “She was the only panelist to offer him support,” the New York Times reported.
19. “Florida has no granite or quartz’’ (p. 22) Florida’s beach sands are commonly composed of quartz crystals, according to the Florida Geological Survey.
20. "There hasn't been an election yet in which Florida's poor white men didn't vote to perpetuate the privileges of its rich white men, so long as it helped keep black Americans in their place" (p. 445) Barack Obama won the state in 2008 and 2012 by such a big margin that he presumably got support from at least a few white male voters.
21. "Though St. Augustine owes its existence to Pedro Menendez de Aviles, no statue, park or monument there preserves his name" (p. 44) In the park-like courtyard in front of the Lightener Museum which is on King Street directly facing Flagler College (the former Ponce de Leon Hotel) is a statue of Menendez that has stood there since 1972. In addition, St. Augustine holds an annual celebration of its founding that includes a reenactment of the landing by Menendez.
22. "The actual Suwannee River is little more than a backwater trench..." p. 340. "That's a 'fact' that has escaped any of us who have ever boated or camped along this scenic waterway," Tom Palmer of the Lakeland Ledger wrote.
Some of these errors might seem trivial, but others are so far off-base that they undercut the point he's trying to make in that section of the book. Taken as a whole they make you wonder about the veracity of the author's approach to writing history.
There are also some huge omissions in the book -- scant mention of the Everglades, for instance, and none at all of the huge impact that World War II had on the state's future (troop training here saved the state's economy in the post-Depression era, and led to ex-servicemen coming back to live here and also, indirectly, to the establishment of NASA in Brevard County). The omission that truly amazed me was the life and death of Harry T. Moore, the first civil rights leader to be martyred to the cause. Moore's valiant life and death are covered ably by Gilbert King in the Pulitzer-winning Devil in the Grove, a far, far superior Florida history book than this one.
January 22, 2015
3.5 stars. I liked this as an intro to Florida's history, mainly because I knew nothing going in being one of those Northeastern transplants that Allman sounds so angry about, though the tone of the book left a lot to be desired. Mostly, I am confused as to whether Allman likes the state of Florida at all (and must wonder if the fact he wrote a book about Florida while living in Paris and New York is a decent indicator of the answer). To summarize what I learned in big picture: Florida history is understood, discussed, celebrated and taught completely wrong by everyone and to further summarize, white men suck and have continually messed up Florida since they got here. My question then must be, how then is Florida's history any different from anywhere else?
July 16, 2013
The true history of the most racist state in the union.
Terrifying to behold.
Whites have been murdering blacks with impunity there since 1800.
And the historians have lied about it ever since.
Terrifying to behold.
Whites have been murdering blacks with impunity there since 1800.
And the historians have lied about it ever since.
January 26, 2014
This is a dangerous book. It is very entertaining to read, but based almost entirely on conjecture and the author's pet historians. The description of the attack on Negro Fort is where I finally had to stop reading. What is referenced in actual primary sources is the very mundane, uncontroversial stuff. The information that is more sensational, that through the entirety of chapter eight Allman laments has been covered up by inept historians, Allman bases on the books of other historians that he approves of. I couldn't find any citations that supported the statement that Seminoles and free blacks in Florida NEVER invaded the US on raids, or that the express purpose of the destruction of Prospect Bluff was to cast down self-sufficient free blacks. I don't doubt that ideas of white supremacy played a major role in the invasion - we are talking about Andrew Jackson after all. But I was hoping to find evidence to support this in Allman's book, and found only hot air.
August 17, 2015
"Way back in 1882 "The Critic," a New York literary review, revealed why it was so "difficult to ascertain the truth about Florida from any published writings. For the most part," the magazine explained, "it has been concealed by one or all of three different methods: by intensely magnifying small facts, by withholding great facts and by actual misrepresentation." What had been true, by then, for nearly one hundred years would be equally true for the next hundred years and more, to the point that the broad outline of Florida history, as generally understood, is essentially fictional." (p. 111)
"Dining on oysters, drinking teas made from local herbs, and wearing scanty but colorful clothing which they accessorized with jewelry of their own design, these early peoples, like Floridians today, were able to enjoy a standard of living their economic productivity did not seem to warrant." (p 24)
"Dining on oysters, drinking teas made from local herbs, and wearing scanty but colorful clothing which they accessorized with jewelry of their own design, these early peoples, like Floridians today, were able to enjoy a standard of living their economic productivity did not seem to warrant." (p 24)
August 12, 2013
Excellent book. Allman punches through the fog and mist which have shrouded so much of Florida's real history for decades. Some readers may not like his views, but he presents a view of Florida's history as few others have done. Kudos to him for writing this book.
July 8, 2023
This book would definitely not be allowed as an assigned text in a Florida school.
Allman has written a sort of counter-history of the state of Florida, focusing on how the themes of privilege, racism, and genocide come up during the five centuries of modern Florida history. At times the revisionist slant can be a bit much, and even Allman gets frustrated and admits people are more allured by the fictionalized real places like Disney and The Villages rather than the natural swamp most of the peninsula was designed to be, with little in the way of profitable natural resources. So this is rather explicitly revisionist history, but he does provide an extensive series of end notes to show the details on which he bases his story are not made up--unlike many of the histories he seeks to debunk.
Allman has written a sort of counter-history of the state of Florida, focusing on how the themes of privilege, racism, and genocide come up during the five centuries of modern Florida history. At times the revisionist slant can be a bit much, and even Allman gets frustrated and admits people are more allured by the fictionalized real places like Disney and The Villages rather than the natural swamp most of the peninsula was designed to be, with little in the way of profitable natural resources. So this is rather explicitly revisionist history, but he does provide an extensive series of end notes to show the details on which he bases his story are not made up--unlike many of the histories he seeks to debunk.
October 27, 2015
I picked this book up thinking that I would like to read a factual, unbiased book detailing the history of my adopted home state. Boy was I wrong. I cannot in good conscience recommend this book to anyone other than fiction devotees for a variety of reasons. Where do I begin?
1. A better title for the book would be "Finding RACISM in Florida" as that is pretty much the gist of the entire book. Every single incident of racism in the state of Florida for the last 500 years bears mention in this book.
2. Other events in Florida's history are either not mentioned at all or glossed over so quickly that he may as well have not mentioned them. Witness: Hurricanes are vaguely referenced, but never by name. Hurricane Andrew which blew ashore in South Florida in 1986 as a category 5 storm, and at the time was the costliest hurricane in US history. NO MENTION. Aileen Wuornos, America's first female serial killer caught in Daytona and later executed. NO MENTION. Daytona international speedway, major Nascar events on an annual basis. NO MENTION.
3. The author claims that early explorers wandered ashore to Florida seeing nothing but the abundant greenery, and that flowers were few and far between. Yet the territory was called "La Florida" which means "the beautiful flowers." Come on, you can't have it both ways.
4. The author flat out insulted another author, Carl Hiassen, by calling him a "classic Florida loser." Oh yes, he did. (page 335).
5. He referred to the manned space programs as "failing to fulfill any scientific purpose," but I suppose that the moon missions and the construction of the International Space Station and the Hubble Telescope were just frippery? Regarding the Challenger Shuttle disaster, he suggested it was the fault of the fuel tank separating from the Shuttle (which occurs on every mission, safely), and only later reaches the conclusion that it was the fault of the rubbery O-rings. The Columbia Shuttle disaster he blames on outdated NASA computers and not the fact that the shuttle was destroyed re-entering the atmosphere because of some damaged tiles. Seriously, this is basic information which can be gleaned through basic research.
6. Getting back to racism, he stated that one couple in Miami was arrested in the 1960's for having an interracial relationship. Well, yes, but he exaggerated the details just a bit. I did my own research on the couple. He says they were arrested in 1963, my research says 1961. He said they got 30 days of hard labor, my research says they got 30 days in the county lock-up, which was probably lessened. Another black man was killed in Miami which spurred some race riots. He says that the man was just driving his motorcycle when he was pulled off the bike and beaten to death by rogue cops. He fails to mention that the motorcyclist had led police on a high speed chase through the streets of Miami. Now I'm not trying to say that the gentleman deserved to be beaten to death on the street, but the author makes it sound like the man was a law abiding citizen.
7. He goes on for seven pages talking about The Villages, which is a retirement community in central Florida, but completely glosses over the citrus industry in Florida. He also refers to the beachside condos and apartments as "high rise death traps" during hurricanes. I don't know about you, but I cannot recall a single incident in which one of those buildings has caused the deaths of people because of a hurricane.
Finally, because of the above problems mentioned, he has created a situation which in fiction is called an "unreliable narrator." Because he imparts the information in a skewed manner, I'm not sure how much or how far to believe him when it comes to historical information, going back all the way to Ponce de Leon and Hernando de Soto. He might be right on target, but based on the above information, I bet there are a lot of things that are a little out of left field.
PS I found it interesting to note that he cites a lot of strange sources in his bibliography, including Miami Vice, The Golden Girls, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Flipper.
1. A better title for the book would be "Finding RACISM in Florida" as that is pretty much the gist of the entire book. Every single incident of racism in the state of Florida for the last 500 years bears mention in this book.
2. Other events in Florida's history are either not mentioned at all or glossed over so quickly that he may as well have not mentioned them. Witness: Hurricanes are vaguely referenced, but never by name. Hurricane Andrew which blew ashore in South Florida in 1986 as a category 5 storm, and at the time was the costliest hurricane in US history. NO MENTION. Aileen Wuornos, America's first female serial killer caught in Daytona and later executed. NO MENTION. Daytona international speedway, major Nascar events on an annual basis. NO MENTION.
3. The author claims that early explorers wandered ashore to Florida seeing nothing but the abundant greenery, and that flowers were few and far between. Yet the territory was called "La Florida" which means "the beautiful flowers." Come on, you can't have it both ways.
4. The author flat out insulted another author, Carl Hiassen, by calling him a "classic Florida loser." Oh yes, he did. (page 335).
5. He referred to the manned space programs as "failing to fulfill any scientific purpose," but I suppose that the moon missions and the construction of the International Space Station and the Hubble Telescope were just frippery? Regarding the Challenger Shuttle disaster, he suggested it was the fault of the fuel tank separating from the Shuttle (which occurs on every mission, safely), and only later reaches the conclusion that it was the fault of the rubbery O-rings. The Columbia Shuttle disaster he blames on outdated NASA computers and not the fact that the shuttle was destroyed re-entering the atmosphere because of some damaged tiles. Seriously, this is basic information which can be gleaned through basic research.
6. Getting back to racism, he stated that one couple in Miami was arrested in the 1960's for having an interracial relationship. Well, yes, but he exaggerated the details just a bit. I did my own research on the couple. He says they were arrested in 1963, my research says 1961. He said they got 30 days of hard labor, my research says they got 30 days in the county lock-up, which was probably lessened. Another black man was killed in Miami which spurred some race riots. He says that the man was just driving his motorcycle when he was pulled off the bike and beaten to death by rogue cops. He fails to mention that the motorcyclist had led police on a high speed chase through the streets of Miami. Now I'm not trying to say that the gentleman deserved to be beaten to death on the street, but the author makes it sound like the man was a law abiding citizen.
7. He goes on for seven pages talking about The Villages, which is a retirement community in central Florida, but completely glosses over the citrus industry in Florida. He also refers to the beachside condos and apartments as "high rise death traps" during hurricanes. I don't know about you, but I cannot recall a single incident in which one of those buildings has caused the deaths of people because of a hurricane.
Finally, because of the above problems mentioned, he has created a situation which in fiction is called an "unreliable narrator." Because he imparts the information in a skewed manner, I'm not sure how much or how far to believe him when it comes to historical information, going back all the way to Ponce de Leon and Hernando de Soto. He might be right on target, but based on the above information, I bet there are a lot of things that are a little out of left field.
PS I found it interesting to note that he cites a lot of strange sources in his bibliography, including Miami Vice, The Golden Girls, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Flipper.
June 7, 2013
What I was expecting was a survey of Florida history. What I received was a complete destruction of all past historical works, which is fine as a revisionist work, but the glaring inaccuracies of Allman's claims is appalling. He often lumps all works on subjects on Florida, or Jefferson, or Ponce De Leon, together as one long line of pro America works without an objective look, but those works referenced are from the early twentieth century. Any student of history would know that is a dated historiography to say the least and is not reflective of the current trends in scholarly historical works. It was clear that the editors did not go through this work with a fine tooth comb, with random words missing not withstanding. Being that the book was recently published and quickly completed at the end of 2012 (concluding with Allman's conviction of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case) the fact checkers apparently did not have the time to check the facts. Knowing that Allman wrote for such publications as the New Yorker and Rolling Stone, one would expect that this work would not be an objective look into the history of Florida, but the bias is glaring and it takes away from the scholarship. His tone in his prose becomes irritating rather quickly.
September 12, 2013
This can not all be true and accurate. I expect the author tried for full disclosure and total accuracy, but in a jungle such as Florida, over a period of hundreds of years, he must have slipped one or twice.
No matter. What is here is appalling. Florida has had its problems, we all know. That so many were of its own making, and that so much of what we 'know' about it consists of pure fiction, i.e., lies, comes as a loong revelation through hundreds of pages.
I recently spent a month in Broward County, right next to Dade. Named for stalwart Floridians of the past, right? Gov. Napoleon Bonaparte Broward drafted a plan to segregate all Negroes in the State of Florida and ship them off to some other, unnamed place. Given the history of the place, the plan probably was (I offer) to scuttle the boats.
Dade, on the other hand, was a General who led his forces into a predictable ambush during which he and his soldiers all perished. The county is named for a total jerk. The enemy were Seminoles, who were not Indians, exclusively, but black, whites, Indians, Latinos who were trying to live a peaceful life but such a thing was unpalatable to the Generals and politicians and random bigots populating Florida or, more likely, visiting. Seminoles interfered with the greed.
Oldest city in North America? NOT St. Augustine by generations. Fountain of Youth and Ponce de Leon? Total fabrications. DisneyWorld? An example of corporate greed and legal misadventure that ranks with the very worst of its kind. And so on and on.
Well written, deeply researched, presented by a native Floridian, this riveting, eye opening book is
Recommended.
No matter. What is here is appalling. Florida has had its problems, we all know. That so many were of its own making, and that so much of what we 'know' about it consists of pure fiction, i.e., lies, comes as a loong revelation through hundreds of pages.
I recently spent a month in Broward County, right next to Dade. Named for stalwart Floridians of the past, right? Gov. Napoleon Bonaparte Broward drafted a plan to segregate all Negroes in the State of Florida and ship them off to some other, unnamed place. Given the history of the place, the plan probably was (I offer) to scuttle the boats.
Dade, on the other hand, was a General who led his forces into a predictable ambush during which he and his soldiers all perished. The county is named for a total jerk. The enemy were Seminoles, who were not Indians, exclusively, but black, whites, Indians, Latinos who were trying to live a peaceful life but such a thing was unpalatable to the Generals and politicians and random bigots populating Florida or, more likely, visiting. Seminoles interfered with the greed.
Oldest city in North America? NOT St. Augustine by generations. Fountain of Youth and Ponce de Leon? Total fabrications. DisneyWorld? An example of corporate greed and legal misadventure that ranks with the very worst of its kind. And so on and on.
Well written, deeply researched, presented by a native Floridian, this riveting, eye opening book is
Recommended.
November 3, 2013
I have no particular interest in Florida or even in visiting Florida, though I once spent three days half-drunk in Daytona Beach, Spring Break 1964. I read the book because it was written by an old friend. He relates an astounding history of racism, deceit, and venality, continuing right up to the present day. In this jeremiad every present day hero in Florida history turns out to have been a degenerate rascal, and the true heroes have been deliberately forgotten.
Three samples: 1) The early American settlers destroyed a flourishing multiracial society, which included whites, blacks, and Native Americans. 2) The presidential election of 1876 was decided in the Electoral College by Florida; the candidate who won 51% of the popular vote lost the presidency; and massive voting irregularities and discrimination were upheld in the courts. 3) Disney essentially stole tens of thousands of acres and still pays little or no taxes.
The writing is fast paced and compelling. This is the kind of book you read and you want to get out your torch and pitchfork and head for the state capitol. My only complaint is that he didn’t write it about California.
Three samples: 1) The early American settlers destroyed a flourishing multiracial society, which included whites, blacks, and Native Americans. 2) The presidential election of 1876 was decided in the Electoral College by Florida; the candidate who won 51% of the popular vote lost the presidency; and massive voting irregularities and discrimination were upheld in the courts. 3) Disney essentially stole tens of thousands of acres and still pays little or no taxes.
The writing is fast paced and compelling. This is the kind of book you read and you want to get out your torch and pitchfork and head for the state capitol. My only complaint is that he didn’t write it about California.
Read
September 11, 2022If you think Florida is a hot mess, this book will show you why you're right. Allman has a really strong ideological approach to this history, so I take it all with a grain of salt, but pretty much everything I had already heard about things that he covered matched up--though he has a propensity (that I didn't love) to caricature people. It's long, depressing account of Florida's forgotten history of racism and classism, with even the bright spots shadowed by the fact (which Allman frequently laments) that very few people pay attention to the historical good folks. I could see teaching parts of this alongside other parallel accounts of various historical events.
October 8, 2013
Starts off interestingly, but devolves into a hysterical attempt to character assassinate anyone who ever has done anything of significance in Florida. It gets very choppy and difficult to read once it enters the 20th century. There are certain things the author says that are too easily proven to be false and there is tooth opinion without any facts to back the opinions up.
May 25, 2013
While there were a few inaccuracies in the book--Pedro Menendez comes to mind--the general thesis of the book is correct. And it's pretty damned funny too.
April 23, 2022
Part angry polemic, part attempt at historiography. Having been recommended by The Economist I was expecting something a little more measured. While I appreciated attempts from the author to uncover the "real" history of the region it is difficult to take seriously when you are faced at every turn with rhetorical witticisms and invective.
August 8, 2014
As a Florida native, this book caught my eye while browsing the new books section of my local library. As the title suggests, Allman revisits Florida's origins and decimates the myths of Florida that the nation has been subject to for the past 100 years (it never freezes in Florida, Florida is a "paradise," etc.) While revisiting Florida's history Allman sprinkles fun (and not-so-fun) facts about Florida mixed in with some dry wit. The middle section that deals with the Seminole Wars drags a bit but that's because I really don't enjoy reading military history, but someone who loves military history might find this section of the book fascinating.
Florida facts:
* Florida is the only state with no metals (p. x)
* The lack of real soil in Florida limits crop production
* Florida was not named because of floweriness but because of Spain's religious calendar. Ponce de Leon reached Florida's shores a month after Palm Sunday and named the "new" land Pascua Florida.
* de Leon named the Florida Keys, "The Martyrs" because the chain of islands reminded him of decapitated heads. (Living during the Inquisition probably gave a lot of people a morbid outlook on life)
* de Leon was never looking for the Fountain of Youth- this story was spread hundreds of years after the fact by Washington Irving
* "Most of what seems typically Floridian originated someplace else (oranges, flamingos, palmettos)
* Jules Verne predicted space travel would be "in a projectile-vehicle launched from Florida."
Military campaigns in Florida during the 1800s would affect U.S. policy even into the 21st century. Strategy: claim an area/town/village is composed of outlaws and criminals who are a security threat. Ramrod your way into "enemy territory" on a secret mission sanctioned by the President that ignores the Constitution. When the military campaign doesn't go as planned, the press finds out and the President denies any complicity in the matter. (Chapters 8-10) Sound familiar? This happened at the Negro Fort and during the Seminole Wars and happens nowadays when the US becomes involved in modern political hotspots.
Allman also goes into detail about the murky origins of Disney World. The "happiest place on earth" has been allowed by the Florida legislature to permanently damage the environment of Central Florida, be exempted from paying taxes, and allowing loopholes that only gives voting power to stockholders- many of whom do not reside in Florida. After reading this section, I have very little desire to visit a Florida theme park again...
Allman also skewers NASA and their shoddy safety record- if safety protocols had been followed, the Challenger disaster might not have happened.
** You can read more of my reviews at www.thesouthernbookworm.blogspot.com**
Florida facts:
* Florida is the only state with no metals (p. x)
* The lack of real soil in Florida limits crop production
* Florida was not named because of floweriness but because of Spain's religious calendar. Ponce de Leon reached Florida's shores a month after Palm Sunday and named the "new" land Pascua Florida.
* de Leon named the Florida Keys, "The Martyrs" because the chain of islands reminded him of decapitated heads. (Living during the Inquisition probably gave a lot of people a morbid outlook on life)
* de Leon was never looking for the Fountain of Youth- this story was spread hundreds of years after the fact by Washington Irving
* "Most of what seems typically Floridian originated someplace else (oranges, flamingos, palmettos)
* Jules Verne predicted space travel would be "in a projectile-vehicle launched from Florida."
Military campaigns in Florida during the 1800s would affect U.S. policy even into the 21st century. Strategy: claim an area/town/village is composed of outlaws and criminals who are a security threat. Ramrod your way into "enemy territory" on a secret mission sanctioned by the President that ignores the Constitution. When the military campaign doesn't go as planned, the press finds out and the President denies any complicity in the matter. (Chapters 8-10) Sound familiar? This happened at the Negro Fort and during the Seminole Wars and happens nowadays when the US becomes involved in modern political hotspots.
Allman also goes into detail about the murky origins of Disney World. The "happiest place on earth" has been allowed by the Florida legislature to permanently damage the environment of Central Florida, be exempted from paying taxes, and allowing loopholes that only gives voting power to stockholders- many of whom do not reside in Florida. After reading this section, I have very little desire to visit a Florida theme park again...
Allman also skewers NASA and their shoddy safety record- if safety protocols had been followed, the Challenger disaster might not have happened.
** You can read more of my reviews at www.thesouthernbookworm.blogspot.com**
January 29, 2016
This book is history at it's worst. Well, second worst - it's seeing all of history through a deeply biased lens (as opposed to fabricating history for political gain). It is history at its worst in the sense that Allman has dredged up the worst of history - all the bad stuff that has ever been written about Florida. This is "Lies My Teacher Told Me" and "Don't Know Much About..." cranked up to 11.
The "facts" have some issues which other reviewers have addressed here and elsewhere. The first one that really jumped out at me the most was the idea that Pedro Menendez has somehow been forgotten and "airbrushed out" out of Florida history when nearly every modern history of the state covers him. Oddly the author dwells on Menendez massacring the French, not bothering to mention all his other efforts to conquer Florida of which Allman would surely disapprove.
By page 53, Allman - who's motives have been visible to those who have seen this routine before - comes out an spells out his bias: "The governing principle of this approach is that Nothing Unpleasant Ever Happens in Florida, at least nothing that can be blamed on English-speaking Protestant white men unless (later on) they are Yankees." Thus since white men have done bad things throughout history and some authors writing about Florida have been spinning positive PR or expressing biases (often common biases of their time) or simply limited by their page count, Allman will serve as our historical savior enlightening us on how in fact the opposite is true: history is nothing by white men being terrible, awful human beings to everyone else. Where I come from that's called "Privileging The Present" and "White Male Guilt". Everyone, especially writers, need to learn that the correct response to bias is not to respond with the opposite bias!
The writing is colorful and if Allman had stuck to common misconceptions and overlooked people and events then this probably would be been a good and respectable book. Instead, we got something that will lure in the unwary with it's sensationalism and leave them with a false sense of enlightenment. If this is history then why study it unless you want a smug sense of modern superiority, or enjoy making yourself feel bad?
There is far more to history, including Florida's history, than T. D. Allman would have readers believe. Strongest recommendation to avoid.
The "facts" have some issues which other reviewers have addressed here and elsewhere. The first one that really jumped out at me the most was the idea that Pedro Menendez has somehow been forgotten and "airbrushed out" out of Florida history when nearly every modern history of the state covers him. Oddly the author dwells on Menendez massacring the French, not bothering to mention all his other efforts to conquer Florida of which Allman would surely disapprove.
By page 53, Allman - who's motives have been visible to those who have seen this routine before - comes out an spells out his bias: "The governing principle of this approach is that Nothing Unpleasant Ever Happens in Florida, at least nothing that can be blamed on English-speaking Protestant white men unless (later on) they are Yankees." Thus since white men have done bad things throughout history and some authors writing about Florida have been spinning positive PR or expressing biases (often common biases of their time) or simply limited by their page count, Allman will serve as our historical savior enlightening us on how in fact the opposite is true: history is nothing by white men being terrible, awful human beings to everyone else. Where I come from that's called "Privileging The Present" and "White Male Guilt". Everyone, especially writers, need to learn that the correct response to bias is not to respond with the opposite bias!
The writing is colorful and if Allman had stuck to common misconceptions and overlooked people and events then this probably would be been a good and respectable book. Instead, we got something that will lure in the unwary with it's sensationalism and leave them with a false sense of enlightenment. If this is history then why study it unless you want a smug sense of modern superiority, or enjoy making yourself feel bad?
There is far more to history, including Florida's history, than T. D. Allman would have readers believe. Strongest recommendation to avoid.
January 3, 2023
Review title: Finding Fantasyland
If, like me, you are one of the many Americans who think of Florida first as a vacation destination, T. D. Allman's "True History of the Sunshine State" will expand your focus to the reality that became Fantasyland.
The key, writes Allman, is to pick the right starting point: not the Fountain of Youth myth (there never was one, and Ponce de Leon wasn't looking for it) but the Fort at St.Augustine (p. 44-45). There, Pedro Menendez de Aviles destroyed the French settlement in1565, leaving behind the place name Matanzas (meaning slaughter) for businesses, streets, and geographical features.
The peninsula and western panhandle along the northern rim of the Gulf of Mexico that would become Florida, was populated and alternately claimed, battled for, and abandoned by natives tribes, Spanish conquistadors, French settlers, escaped slaves and free Blacks, pirates, shipwreck survivors, immigrants of all races from the Caribbean Islands and southern borders of the gulf, English immigrants from the colonies to the north, and finally soldiers from the newly United States who sought to annex Florida's land and expand slavery to this supposedly fertile land. Even the reality of origins is obscured by fantasy: the "Seminoles" we have come to credit as original residents were actually an "artificial construct" first used "during the War of Independence to describe detribalized Indians migrating into Florida", escaped slaves and free Blacks, and self-identifying white "countrymen." (p. 144). Seminole chief Osceola was a white man named William Powell (p. 143).
The acquisition of Florida for the United States was a long ebb and flow involving cross-border movement by those fleeing slavery and seeking to extend slavery, authorized and clandestine military actions, and both diplomatic treaties and duplicitous negotiations between the many parties who wanted to retain control or extricate themselves from the area. Strange bedfellows from Jefferson (p. 58) to Jackson (p. 91) would bend constitutional principles to the extent that "the federal authority subsidized and promoted the expansion of slavery instead of merely tolerating it." (p. 104). In the end, the geography, geology, and climate of most of Florida proved inhospitable to single-crop plantation slavery and later the tropical crops (sugar, citrus, and bananas) hoped to be the next great money maker. Racism was so embedded in the history of Florida that early Governor Richard Keith Call declared it "inseparably connected with our social and political system" (p. 203), a connection so strong that Florida seceded to join the Confederacy even though it was "more dependent on federal money and protection than any other slaveholder state. . . . Everything they had Florida's secessionists owed to the intervention of the federal government, yet when faced with the choice, they chose slavery over loyalty." (p. 205-206)
Allman has chosen this framework of fantasy vs. reality to frame his history and he applies it consistently throughout, which turns into both a strength and a weakness as it narrows the focus of his topics and analysis. As he summarizes his theses:
Yes, the Washington Irving of Sleepy Hollow fame wrote an early popular history of Florida that Allman identifies as the source of many of the myths, and he continues to point out other historians, journalists, and politicians who followed Irving's lead throughout Florida's history. Allman divides his bibliography into "Truthtellers" and "Mythmakers" and arranges them by publication date, neither of which is useful. As even Allman notes in his bibliography, some of the "Mythmakers" sources contain truth, and vice versa. I don't disagree with his theses or his use of the sources, I just can't assess how much of the Florida history I want or need to know is off the page.
As Allman extends his history, the violence based on race and class extended beyond the Civil War through Reconstruction, the establishment of Jim Crow and its enforcement by lynching and electoral manipulation. His account, published in 2013, of the way voters were disenfranchised by voting laws and and votes manipulated by electoral officials in the 1872 and 2000 elections accurately foreshadows the way Florida has responded to the false accusations of voter fraud in 2020. In his epilogue Allman concludes with this warning:
As the Covid-19 and election disinformation campaigns of the last two years have shown, this disconnection with reality has real costs and ramifications. Reconnecting with reality is Allman's point and it is one we need to hear. Fantasyland is fun to visit. We need to live in the real world.
If, like me, you are one of the many Americans who think of Florida first as a vacation destination, T. D. Allman's "True History of the Sunshine State" will expand your focus to the reality that became Fantasyland.
The key, writes Allman, is to pick the right starting point: not the Fountain of Youth myth (there never was one, and Ponce de Leon wasn't looking for it) but the Fort at St.Augustine (p. 44-45). There, Pedro Menendez de Aviles destroyed the French settlement in1565, leaving behind the place name Matanzas (meaning slaughter) for businesses, streets, and geographical features.
If you take Ponce and the Fountain myth as the beginning, events forever after seem nothing but a series of disconnected, rather silly events. Start with Menendez de Aviles, what he did in Florida, and why he did it, and you begin to perceive an interconnected, comprehensible profile of events, stretching from the Protestant Reformation to the Cuban Missile Crisis and beyond.
The peninsula and western panhandle along the northern rim of the Gulf of Mexico that would become Florida, was populated and alternately claimed, battled for, and abandoned by natives tribes, Spanish conquistadors, French settlers, escaped slaves and free Blacks, pirates, shipwreck survivors, immigrants of all races from the Caribbean Islands and southern borders of the gulf, English immigrants from the colonies to the north, and finally soldiers from the newly United States who sought to annex Florida's land and expand slavery to this supposedly fertile land. Even the reality of origins is obscured by fantasy: the "Seminoles" we have come to credit as original residents were actually an "artificial construct" first used "during the War of Independence to describe detribalized Indians migrating into Florida", escaped slaves and free Blacks, and self-identifying white "countrymen." (p. 144). Seminole chief Osceola was a white man named William Powell (p. 143).
The acquisition of Florida for the United States was a long ebb and flow involving cross-border movement by those fleeing slavery and seeking to extend slavery, authorized and clandestine military actions, and both diplomatic treaties and duplicitous negotiations between the many parties who wanted to retain control or extricate themselves from the area. Strange bedfellows from Jefferson (p. 58) to Jackson (p. 91) would bend constitutional principles to the extent that "the federal authority subsidized and promoted the expansion of slavery instead of merely tolerating it." (p. 104). In the end, the geography, geology, and climate of most of Florida proved inhospitable to single-crop plantation slavery and later the tropical crops (sugar, citrus, and bananas) hoped to be the next great money maker. Racism was so embedded in the history of Florida that early Governor Richard Keith Call declared it "inseparably connected with our social and political system" (p. 203), a connection so strong that Florida seceded to join the Confederacy even though it was "more dependent on federal money and protection than any other slaveholder state. . . . Everything they had Florida's secessionists owed to the intervention of the federal government, yet when faced with the choice, they chose slavery over loyalty." (p. 205-206)
Allman has chosen this framework of fantasy vs. reality to frame his history and he applies it consistently throughout, which turns into both a strength and a weakness as it narrows the focus of his topics and analysis. As he summarizes his theses:
To explore Florida's past is to make many discoveries. The first is how systematically “history” diverges from fact. The second is how deeply ingrained the role of violence is. The third, and certainly the least expected, is how extraordinarily decisive the tales of Washington Irving have been in sustaining false beliefs about Florida’s past. (p. 124)
Yes, the Washington Irving of Sleepy Hollow fame wrote an early popular history of Florida that Allman identifies as the source of many of the myths, and he continues to point out other historians, journalists, and politicians who followed Irving's lead throughout Florida's history. Allman divides his bibliography into "Truthtellers" and "Mythmakers" and arranges them by publication date, neither of which is useful. As even Allman notes in his bibliography, some of the "Mythmakers" sources contain truth, and vice versa. I don't disagree with his theses or his use of the sources, I just can't assess how much of the Florida history I want or need to know is off the page.
As Allman extends his history, the violence based on race and class extended beyond the Civil War through Reconstruction, the establishment of Jim Crow and its enforcement by lynching and electoral manipulation. His account, published in 2013, of the way voters were disenfranchised by voting laws and and votes manipulated by electoral officials in the 1872 and 2000 elections accurately foreshadows the way Florida has responded to the false accusations of voter fraud in 2020. In his epilogue Allman concludes with this warning:
When people are unwilling or unable to come to terms with reality, a politics based on unreality becomes necessary to sustain what the Florida scholar Eugene Lyon describes as the “utopia of mutual hopes.” The utopia in question can be a gated community or an indigo plantation—or the insistence that America always is and always will be number one so long as it makes up its past as it goes along. You can call the lies illusion or ideology or doctrine or traditional values, or talking points or wedge issues if you prefer. The key function of such a politics, whatever you call it, is to sustain the prevailing but now endangered disconnect with reality. The problem, which Florida has been demonstrating for half a millennium, is that maintaining the disconnect makes it even more unlikely that practical solutions to real problems will be found. (p. 456-457)
As the Covid-19 and election disinformation campaigns of the last two years have shown, this disconnection with reality has real costs and ramifications. Reconnecting with reality is Allman's point and it is one we need to hear. Fantasyland is fun to visit. We need to live in the real world.
June 6, 2013
I spent part of my growing up years in Jacksonville and Miami and so this book really attracted me. It certainly did debunk most of the Florida history we were required to study in elementary school. I've always known FL was a crazy place but I guess I never knew how crazy it has been since its inception until I stumbled upon this book.
On the negative side--this is way, way too long and parts of it are overly detailed. And it can never be said that T.D. Allman is a gifted writer--even with such colorful material, he is dull! Allman is also quite opinionated and at times his passages turn into rants. Not enjoyable!
Still--this one is worth a browse. Just skim through the dry parts and discover the dark parts of the Sunshine State.
On the negative side--this is way, way too long and parts of it are overly detailed. And it can never be said that T.D. Allman is a gifted writer--even with such colorful material, he is dull! Allman is also quite opinionated and at times his passages turn into rants. Not enjoyable!
Still--this one is worth a browse. Just skim through the dry parts and discover the dark parts of the Sunshine State.
Currently reading
May 3, 2013Currently reading, but all the alleged factual errors aside, the primary theme of the book is that FL has been continually re-shaped and molded by those who stand to gain the most. I find the book very entertaining, and also full of facts that HAVE NOT been contested. The book only confirms what I have suspected all along; that much of FL is a sham, foisted upon the rest of the world. Even though I currently reside here, I am looking to make an exit and return to my northern roots. Meanwhile, I shall continue to be entertained reading this book......
June 8, 2018
Wow! This book is as much about Florida history as it is American history. It leaves you with some difficult conclusions to wrestle with especially while taking the Disney Fast Pass inside Space Mountain.
This book should be required reading in FL high schools. This book should be required reading for everyone. If the author does anything well (he does many things well in this book) it is the demystifying of history. You might also say he shows how common historical, narratives are fictional and written to deceive.
This book should be required reading in FL high schools. This book should be required reading for everyone. If the author does anything well (he does many things well in this book) it is the demystifying of history. You might also say he shows how common historical, narratives are fictional and written to deceive.
December 10, 2020
This is an unconventional history book, going into a few episodes in-depth, rather than trying to do any kind of complete overview, but it is an excellent way to tell the story not just of Florida, but of the US. If you're looking for the traditional rah-rah, British-centric, American expansion good story, you won't like that. If you want to know what it was like to have the New World overrun by waves of conquerors, to have enslaved Africans brought here, to have "Indians" "dealt with" and to see greed played out over and over again, read this book.
December 9, 2023
True history of Florida
I’m blown away as a Yankee transplant who fell for Jimmy Buffet’s Florida. Although, my grandparents moved from Pittsburgh to St. Pete in the 1930’s and I visited them from my earliest days, I looked forward to my retirement in the Tampa Bay Area and can now appreciate my adoptive state.
I’m blown away as a Yankee transplant who fell for Jimmy Buffet’s Florida. Although, my grandparents moved from Pittsburgh to St. Pete in the 1930’s and I visited them from my earliest days, I looked forward to my retirement in the Tampa Bay Area and can now appreciate my adoptive state.
November 29, 2013
I was long overdue to learn more about my adopted state. However, I was not expecting such a shameful past. Great read, but very unsettling--no pun intended,
May 25, 2013
Amazing and meticulously researched history of Florida w/ a heavy emphasis on its unique political landscape. Fascinating.
June 29, 2013
Outstanding, informative, anecdotal, funny, deeply thoughtful history of a state whose reality is diametrically opposite to its myth.
July 5, 2017
As you can see from the reactions of readers, this book generates a response from readers. Many take issue with its degree of accuracy, which is ironic as one of Allman's principal arguments is the high degree of inaccuracy of many Florida histories. Since I have not read other histories of the state, I cannot adequately assess this issue myself, but what strikes me about many of the complaints in this area are that they a) focus on smaller details and try to conclude that as a result the entire work is suspect, which is a logical fallacy or b) focus on those aspects of twentieth century history that Allman has not included and argue that he is cherry-picking his data. This latter charge is fairer.
The final section of the book is, without question, the weakest. And Allman clearly does have a particular thesis he is arguing in the book -- that Florida's history should be read through the lenses of white racism, social privilege and political corruption, and the inevitably of Florida's true temperate zone nature to resist whatever false dreams people may try to impose upon it. He can make this case relatively easily during the early centuries because he is not struggling to tell the story of the massive population changes that are intrinsic to Florida's twentieth century. But he really needs another entire volume to incorporate that century properly. Instead he runs roughshod over it, telling a couple of stories (Disney and The Villages) really well, others so minimally that they are sloppily or confusingly done (BP oil spill, Bush brothers and 2000 election).
In the end, Allman's anger runs away with him. I think he cares deeply about Florida and is appalled, especially by what wealth and political corruption have done to a state that he sees as having so much potential in terms of its population. And that's unfortunate, because the last section of the book is very hard to plow through, which is too bad because the early sections of the book are informative and even entertaining.
The final section of the book is, without question, the weakest. And Allman clearly does have a particular thesis he is arguing in the book -- that Florida's history should be read through the lenses of white racism, social privilege and political corruption, and the inevitably of Florida's true temperate zone nature to resist whatever false dreams people may try to impose upon it. He can make this case relatively easily during the early centuries because he is not struggling to tell the story of the massive population changes that are intrinsic to Florida's twentieth century. But he really needs another entire volume to incorporate that century properly. Instead he runs roughshod over it, telling a couple of stories (Disney and The Villages) really well, others so minimally that they are sloppily or confusingly done (BP oil spill, Bush brothers and 2000 election).
In the end, Allman's anger runs away with him. I think he cares deeply about Florida and is appalled, especially by what wealth and political corruption have done to a state that he sees as having so much potential in terms of its population. And that's unfortunate, because the last section of the book is very hard to plow through, which is too bad because the early sections of the book are informative and even entertaining.
July 9, 2025
I’ve been struggling with how to review this book. The synopsis was intriguing, the first pages captured my attention, but overall this book left me frustrated yet not in the ways the author very obviously intended. As a born and raised Floridian with a love of history, I am familiar with most of the events that T D Allman tells in this book. However, it became glaringly obvious about a quarter of the way through that this was written with the purpose of driving your opinion rather than informing you about historical events.
Well, after finishing it, here’s my opinion: this book should have been named “Finding Fault in Florida”. It is a series of vignettes where the author cannot keep his virtue signaling in check. The stories themselves only cover a surface area of the historical events that shaped our state and leave out plenty of crucial details that would fill in those gaps (or leaves out the best parts of the story). The bias towards Miami as the “center” of the state is glaringly obvious in the last few chapters and the majority of the book is a criticism (by today’s moral standards not those of the time) of just about everyone he writes about. To be clear, I’m not a Florida apologist or romantic by any stretch of the imagination. It can’t be denied that Florida is very much imperfect, just like every other state, and we’ve had downright awful things happen here that are worse than some other states. But it seemed like the author found fault in nearly every aspect of our history (what he chose to show of it anyways) from colonization to today.
I applaud the author for writing such a lengthy book that evidently took a lot of time and energy (which is why I gave it two stars instead of one) but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I finished this purely out of force of will.
But hey, thanks for reminding me that the word troglodyte exists - it’s a good one.
Well, after finishing it, here’s my opinion: this book should have been named “Finding Fault in Florida”. It is a series of vignettes where the author cannot keep his virtue signaling in check. The stories themselves only cover a surface area of the historical events that shaped our state and leave out plenty of crucial details that would fill in those gaps (or leaves out the best parts of the story). The bias towards Miami as the “center” of the state is glaringly obvious in the last few chapters and the majority of the book is a criticism (by today’s moral standards not those of the time) of just about everyone he writes about. To be clear, I’m not a Florida apologist or romantic by any stretch of the imagination. It can’t be denied that Florida is very much imperfect, just like every other state, and we’ve had downright awful things happen here that are worse than some other states. But it seemed like the author found fault in nearly every aspect of our history (what he chose to show of it anyways) from colonization to today.
I applaud the author for writing such a lengthy book that evidently took a lot of time and energy (which is why I gave it two stars instead of one) but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I finished this purely out of force of will.
But hey, thanks for reminding me that the word troglodyte exists - it’s a good one.
January 27, 2021
I’m going to Florida for five weeks this month and I wanted to learn more about it. The premise of this book is to debunk common tales and chamber-of-commerce hype about the state and its history, The author does a good job of digging and is blunt. But his style leaves a lot to be desired. The 528 page length could’ve been half that and still satisfied all readers. The author is prone to overly wordy sentences, and he beats some historical topics to death. It was really eye-opening to read how cruel we were to the Native Americans, the blacks, and Spanish and French civilizations that resided there. It was interesting to hear honest assessments of how worthless the landscape and natural resources are in this area ... if it weren’t for tourism and weather, there’s not much reason to go there. So I got what I wanted out of the book, I got some juicy insight into the place I’m visiting without the sugar-coating. The author has got good ideas and is well-researched. Reader should just know that he writes too much.
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