Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun: Hernando De Soto and the South's Ancient Chiefdoms by Charles Hudson

<p>Between 1539 and 1542 Hernando de Soto led a small army on a desperate journey of exploration of almost four thousand miles across the U. S. Southeast. Until the 1998 publication of Charles M. Hudson&;s foundational <i>Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun</i>, De Soto&;s path had been one of history&;s most intriguing mysteries. With this book, anthropologist Charles Hudson offers a solution to the question, “Where did de Soto go?” Using a new route reconstruction, for the first time the story of the de Soto expedition can be laid on a map, and in many instances it can be tied to specific archaeological sites.<br><br>Arguably the most important event in the history of the Southeast in the sixteenth century, De Soto&;s journey cut a bloody and indelible swath across both the landscape and native cultures in a quest for gold and personal glory. The desperate Spanish army followed the sunset from Florida to Texas before abandoning its mission. De Soto&;s one triumph was that he was the first European to explore the vast region that would be the American South, but he died on the banks of the Mississippi River a broken man in 1542. <br><br>With a new foreword by Robbie Ethridge reflecting on the continuing influence of this now classic text, the twentieth-anniversary edition of Knights is a clearly written narrative that unfolds against the exotic backdrop of a now extinct social and geographic landscape. Hudson masterfully chronicles both De Soto&;s expedition and the native societies he visited. A blending of archaeology, history, and historical geography, this is a monumental study of the sixteenth-century Southeast.</p>

Categories: History