Hernando De Soto: A Savage Quest in the Americas

by David Ewing Duncan

For the first time, a book that tells the truth about Hernando de Soto's legendary expedition across what would become the United States, where he squandered a fortune in gold won in the conquest of Peru, and drove himself slowly mad searching for a second Inca empire. Maps and line drawings.

Genres: History, Biography, Spain, Travel, American History, 16th Century, American

570 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

David Ewing Duncan is the author of seven books including the worldwide bestseller Calendar. He is Chief Correspondent of public radio's Biotech Nation, a commentator on NPR's Morning Edition, and a contributing editor and a columnist for Conde Nast Portfolio. He has been a contributing editor to Wired, Discover and Technology Review, and has written for Harper s, The Atlantic, Fortune, and many other publications. He is a former special correspondent and producer for ABC Nightline and a correspondent for NOVA s ScienceNOW! He has won numerous awards including the Magazine Story of the Year from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He lives in San Francisco and is the Director of the Center of Life Science Policy at UC Berkeley. "

Reviews

[Christopher Rex · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars for "History Buffs" and 3 Stars for the General Public. This biography of Hernando de Soto is incredibly well-researched and insanely informative. However, that is also its "drawback." That is, the book needs a make-over to make it a bit more digestable for the Average Dude. I love a good history book, but too much detail can bog down an historical narrative. If you are researching de Soto, start here.

De Soto epitomized Spain and the Spanish era of conquest: Bold, uber-confident, egotistical, utter disdain for non-Christians, superiority complex and utter barbarity in achieving one's goals. That being said, these are precisely the qualities that brought de Soto (and Pizarro) success versus impossible odds in the Inca Empire. It also brought megalomania and eventual death, despair and failure in La Florida. De Soto wanted the "quick buck" of stealing gold and conquering. So, rather than see the "big picture" and set up colonies in North America, he simply kept pressing forward, determined to find gold - he fails (and dies - spoiler).

If you have any interest in the Era of Exploration/Discovery and/or conquest - de Soto is a "must know" character. I truly hope the author buffs up his autobiography b/c I feel it could be a "best seller" type of history book more along the lines of Lawrence Bergeen's books about Columbus & Magellan. It just needs a make-over.

Worth reading, but not swift.

[John Klinkose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book densely packed with lots of information. Soto crossed the Ocean sea as a teen from no where, with nothing. Plundered his way through Central America and then Peru with the Pizarro brothers. This made him a very rich man, but instead of enjoying his ill-gotten gains he takes an army of 600 into la Florida (North America ). Book is full of Conquistador politics and mississippian Indian information. Very interesting, just such a different world 500 years ago.

[Oren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Worth reading. Well written and researched. One of my favorite shows is Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr, and his Hispanic guests are always the most interesting segments bc their ancestries can be tracked so far Bank thanks to Spanish record keeping. This was true for this book as well. It’s dense with info, and full of fascinating nuggets of info and stories. It’s just a great story overall bc brutal as it was, the history is fascinating.

[Veronica G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important- but very difficult to read.
I had trouble sleeping with images of extinct indigenous populations being hacked to bits and torn to shreds by dogs.
I did feel that I needed to keep reading to bear witness to the crimes against humanity perpetuated by Hernando de Soto. They skipped over the extraordinarily horribleness of his work in 5th grade history.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

fascinating story. not satisfied with his riches from plundering Peru, Hernando de Soto asked the Kang for more places to "explore".

he was given "la florida", de Soto and his army basically wandered around south east USA searching for a new empire of gold. unfortunately for them it didn't exist. instead all they found was subsidence farming natives who were not fond of the Spaniards.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too big. I read 20%. But interesting history.

[Tom Hooker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biography of the Spanish conquistador who travelled through the Southeast U.S. in 1539=1541.

[Nona Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent historical record of the exploration of North America.

[Andrew]

Horrifically fascinating... fascinatingly horrific. An ugly story told very well.