will give you a modern, documentary-style look at the Spanish conquest of the Americas, from Columbus through Hernando de Soto. You will be taken from windswept Andes peaks to the sweltering coasts of southern Mexico, from lush Caribbean islands to bleak Texas deserts and mosquito-ridden Florida swamps. The story is told by the people who were there-witnesses and participants, conquerors and victims. These eyewitness accounts, most of which have been newly translated into today's English idiom, are tied together by an illuminating narrative. The Spanish conquest invites moral judgment, a response which the author has attempted to avoid, preferring to leave it to you, the reader.