Robert Goodwin (1)

Crossing the continent by Robert Goodwin. This is non-fiction. I found it's content interesting but uneven. It covers the story of a Spanish expedition to "Florida" - the southern part of what is now the US, focusing on Esteban Dorantes, an African slave who was part of the expedition.

300 men were stranded on the western coast of the Florida peninsula in the 1530s. They attempted to follow the coastline to meet up with Spanish ships on the Mexican gulf. In the process all but three of them show more died, and 8 years these later these 3 men ran across some Spanish conquistadors in Mexico. The survivors had eventually acclimated to the climate and cultures of the natives and become revered medicine men that traveled the continent.

Because the documentary evidence for what happened is scant (the written testimony of the survivors, given in Mexico, as well as a letter from one Spanish survivor and a book published by the 2nd Spanish survivor), the author does a lot of speculating about where Esteban originated, and what his thoughts and feelings might have been. Of course the author's speculations are based in what he knows of the European slave trade in Africa, and what he knows of Spanish culture in Seville at the time the expedition sailed, and I don't question that bit. I remain a bit suspicious of his guesses at Esteban's thoughts and feelings, since there is no direct testimony from him in the record - he could be accurate, but it feels like he's reaching - I think it's very hard to put ourselves in to the mindset of someone who lived that many centuries ago.

I accept the author's claim that these were the first Europeans on record to almost cross the North American continent (they made it into the Arizona/New Mexico area, but not to the Pacific Coast). But I question the author calling Esteban the first African American, since I'm pretty sure there were African slaves in the Caribbean at this time. Perhaps he was the first African to reach North America (or the first one to arrive and leave a historical record.) And you can call him an American if you want since he lived in North America the rest of his life.

The rest - that he was the leader of the 3 survivors, that he more easily acclimated to Native American mores because his African culture and Native American culture were more similar than the Europeans, is perhaps a reasonable argument, but not a conclusive one in my book since there isn't enough evidence. It could be true, I just don't think there is enough evidence to say definitively that it is. show less

I enjoyed the first half of this book tremendously. I hadn't knows much about Spanish history of this period, about Charles V and Philip II and their less worthy successors. The authors narrative was informative and moved right along at a perfect pace. The second half of the book was a detailed look at some the the works of literature, sculpture, painting and theater of the period. There are many pages of detail about the plot and the author's anaylsis of Don Quixote. I found this part of show more the book less interesting. As a history, I'd give it 4 stars if I had just read the first half. show less

An interesting read, though difficult at times to follow. The book attempts to document the sixteenth-century crossing of North America by a trio of Spanish noblemen and a pioneering former African slave who endured such challenges as a shipwreck, famine, disease, and Native American attacks. The author jumps back and forth through the historical narrative, inserting the details of his personal research on Estevan, frequently sidetracking the reader with long scholarly explanations of the show more documentary evidence, geography, customs, or history of various people and places who were part of the story. Although it is certain that Estevan existed and played an important role in history, most of the details of his life presented here, are, of necessity, conjectural due to the lack of reliable records. show less

I was wondering what happened back then. These guys (Charles and the gang of Philips and their bad genepool) took over. (I like the Carlos V chocolate bar that still remains the best but that's not in the book). So here is the spoiler: Spain wasn't much, then it took all the silver in Peru and the gold too, it had its day, the money slowed, and that was it. Along the way Don Quixote and el Greco were hot (along with some others). The Catholics went ballistic. The (new) world got screwed.