In April, 1529, Cabeza de Vaca and his expedition were overtaken by a storm off the coast of Texas. He and three other men were the only apparent survivors, and they were stranded on a forlorn and empty shore six hundred miles from the closest Spanish settlement. De Vaca, whose ancestors had been soldiers of Spain for two hundred years, had come to Florida with Panfilo Narvaez to find the legendary golden city of Cibola. Harried by hostile Indians, they had built boats and were fleeing to Tampico.

For eight years the four shipwrecked men wandered across the continent, trying to reach Mexico. Nowhere in their tremendous journey did they see a sign of the mysterious city of Cibola. Finally in March, 1537, they met a group of their fellow countrymen near the Sinaloa River on the west coast of Mexico.

The experiences of these men did more than anything else to discourage Spanish exploration of North America, and Ronald Syme's account of this little-known chapter in early American exploring makes a powerful story.

From the dust jacket