Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition
Publishing Details
Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition
By (Author) Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Translated by Fanny Bandelier
Edited by Harold Augenbraun
Introduction by Ilan Stavans
Penguin Random House Australia
Penguin Random House Australia
25th June 2002
Australia
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Geographical discovery and exploration
General and world history
970.016092
Physical Properties
160
Width 129mm, Height 195mm, Spine 11mm
125g
Description
This story of survival is the first major narrative of the exploration of North America by Europeans (1528-1536). The author, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, was a fortune-seeking Spanish nobleman and the treasurer of an expedition sent to claim for Spain the vast area of today's southern Unived States. A shipwreck forced him and a handful of men to make the long westward journey on foot from the present day Florida via Louisiana and Texas to California. In order to survive, Cabeza de Vaca joined native peoples along the way, learning their languages and practices, serving them as a slave and later as a physician. The narrative is a trove of ethnographic information, with descriptions and interpretations of native cultures that make it a powerful precursor to modern anthropology.
Author Bio
Ilan Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College and the author or editor of numerous books.
