This volume is a welcome contribution to Soto studies. Admirably researched and meticulously annotated, it draws together all known threads in the life story of one of the principals of the New World conquista. Soto is of particular importance to North American history, being the first to explore deeply into the interior vastness of the southeastern United States. The chronicles of that expedition are a source of invaluable, sometimes unique, information on the invading Europeans as well as the Native Americans who suffered because of them. Duncan offers little new here, however, as he essentially repeats the current consensus on these well-studied subjects. His major contribution is to look at the entire life of Hernando de Soto, and not just those last three years.
The problem confronting Duncan is that Soto, typical of his brotherhood, left so few personal documents, and these were mostly of an official or legal...
