An exceptional historical narrative, 04 Sep 2000
Using an academic (yet accessible) narrative, Walvin successfully educates the reader about the unspeakable horrors of British slavery. The physical and mental colinisation of the African slaves is brilliantly descirbed, as well as the barbaric conditions that made slavery one of history's most durable institutions. This book should be read by anyone who wishes to unravel the historical fabric of black/white race relations in the western world.

all this for a smoke and a cup of tea?, 31 Oct 1999
Walvin's conclusion that the slave trade was largely driven by British appetite for tobacco and sugar sounds ludicrous and plausible at the same time. To think that the cravings for sweetness could keep the barbarity of the slave trade going over more than two centuries somehow leave a bitter taste in my modern European mouth--good.

An exceptional historical narrative, 04 Sep 2000
Using an academic (yet accessible) narrative, Walvin successfully educates the reader about the unspeakable horrors of British slavery. The physical and mental colinisation of the African slaves is brilliantly descirbed, as well as the barbaric conditions that made slavery one of history's most durable institutions. This book should be read by anyone who wishes to unravel the historical fabric of black/white race relations in the western world.

all this for a smoke and a cup of tea?, 31 Oct 1999
Walvin's conclusion that the slave trade was largely driven by British appetite for tobacco and sugar sounds ludicrous and plausible at the same time. To think that the cravings for sweetness could keep the barbarity of the slave trade going over more than two centuries somehow leave a bitter taste in my modern European mouth--good.

Take a hike..., 31 Jan 2005
...as they say in the USA. And this really gets into that philosophy from an angle and an age that is as impossible to replicate, and very hard to believe! Brilliantly written and researched, the journey is a faithfull translation of the text written by de Vaca in his report to the King. It's totally engrossing. If you are student of American or Spanish history, or just into walking, this is one book you cannot afford to miss. Will someone please make this book into a film?

Stunning true story, 18 Mar 1999
After reading Cabeza de Vaca's account, it is hard to believe his tale hasn't been made into an epic movie. Of course, the story's treatment of Indians as real, complex people would not have worked in the era of the cowboy-and-Indian movies. Ironically, now that attitudes toward Native Americans would allow a sensitive treatment, such a vast story would be prohibitively expensive to shoot and take several hours to tell properly. But the payoff would be immense. When the lights came up, the viewers would wonder how they ever could have settled for the mythical movie "Dances with Wolves".

Note: Cabeza de Vaca's story is paraphrased in a book called "Journey into Darkness". It helps greatly in understanding the true nature of his journey, telling, for example, what Indian tribes he may have been encountering and where exactly he was at a given time. Incidently, Cabeza de Vaca greatly underestimated the distance he had traveled.

Great,Short Pre History Account Of Native Culture In America, 16 Sep 1998
One of my favorite books of all time, It is hard to believe that it is a historically factual account. Excellent depiction of the way America was before European intrusion. If anyone knows of a better or similar book please e-mail the title to me.

Good translation of DeVaca's original Relacion., 14 Jun 1998
This work relates the adventures of a Spaniard who travelled on the first foray into Florida, under the command of a greedy Governor Navarez who was eager to find rich cities to conquer, as Cortez had recently done against the Aztecs. Navarez, however, was no Cortez, and one mistake after another put the entire expedition in jeopardy. De Vaca's account relates what became of this expedition into Florida and the American West. It is no exaggeration to claim that this is one of the most significant books ever to be written, however this particular translation was not without its own flaws. I could imagine a better, easier to read translation than this (this one was first published in 1961). Additions made in brackets were sometimes confusing and broke in without often adding any information that aided in the reading. He does include portions that compare this account with another referred to as the Joint Report which were all right. Descriptions of place would better have been shown on a map (but the book has no maps or illustrations at all). At the close I would have liked to see a concluding bio of De Vaca but instead got an unneccesary Epilogue on the literary significance of the work, after the work has already spoken for itself. The first time I read about this was in Journey Into Darkness by John Upton Terrell, who used this Relacion to tell the story, but failed by often looking back on the event from our own day, as opposed to transporting you back as a translation of the original Relacion should do. In this case the rating is based only on this edition while the story itself is one of the most important works in the world.

Harrowing, must-read classic--to Mexico from Florida in 1528, 11 Jun 1997
I had never heard of Cabeza De Vaca until I chanced across this book. This is Cabeza De Vaca's story of how he, among two hundred Spanish soldiers, was shipwrecked in Florida in 1528. This harrowing but fascinating story tells about the walk to the nearest Spanish outpost--in Mexico.

It takes years, of course, and along the way, Cabeza De Vaca is sometimes treated as a slave and sometimes as a medicine man by the Indians he encounters. When he arrives in Mexico, he is accompanied only by a large troupe of Indians--everyone else is dead. And the Indians with him are immediately enslaved themselves. He spent the rest of his life battling to help the Indians.

For further information, see http://www3.pbs.org/weta/thewest/wpages/wpgs610/cabeza.htm.

An exceptional historical narrative, 04 Sep 2000
Using an academic (yet accessible) narrative, Walvin successfully educates the reader about the unspeakable horrors of British slavery. The physical and mental colinisation of the African slaves is brilliantly descirbed, as well as the barbaric conditions that made slavery one of history's most durable institutions. This book should be read by anyone who wishes to unravel the historical fabric of black/white race relations in the western world.

all this for a smoke and a cup of tea?, 31 Oct 1999
Walvin's conclusion that the slave trade was largely driven by British appetite for tobacco and sugar sounds ludicrous and plausible at the same time. To think that the cravings for sweetness could keep the barbarity of the slave trade going over more than two centuries somehow leave a bitter taste in my modern European mouth--good.

Take a hike..., 31 Jan 2005
...as they say in the USA. And this really gets into that philosophy from an angle and an age that is as impossible to replicate, and very hard to believe! Brilliantly written and researched, the journey is a faithfull translation of the text written by de Vaca in his report to the King. It's totally engrossing. If you are student of American or Spanish history, or just into walking, this is one book you cannot afford to miss. Will someone please make this book into a film?

Stunning true story, 18 Mar 1999
After reading Cabeza de Vaca's account, it is hard to believe his tale hasn't been made into an epic movie. Of course, the story's treatment of Indians as real, complex people would not have worked in the era of the cowboy-and-Indian movies. Ironically, now that attitudes toward Native Americans would allow a sensitive treatment, such a vast story would be prohibitively expensive to shoot and take several hours to tell properly. But the payoff would be immense. When the lights came up, the viewers would wonder how they ever could have settled for the mythical movie "Dances with Wolves".

Note: Cabeza de Vaca's story is paraphrased in a book called "Journey into Darkness". It helps greatly in understanding the true nature of his journey, telling, for example, what Indian tribes he may have been encountering and where exactly he was at a given time. Incidently, Cabeza de Vaca greatly underestimated the distance he had traveled.

Great,Short Pre History Account Of Native Culture In America, 16 Sep 1998
One of my favorite books of all time, It is hard to believe that it is a historically factual account. Excellent depiction of the way America was before European intrusion. If anyone knows of a better or similar book please e-mail the title to me.

Good translation of DeVaca's original Relacion., 14 Jun 1998
This work relates the adventures of a Spaniard who travelled on the first foray into Florida, under the command of a greedy Governor Navarez who was eager to find rich cities to conquer, as Cortez had recently done against the Aztecs. Navarez, however, was no Cortez, and one mistake after another put the entire expedition in jeopardy. De Vaca's account relates what became of this expedition into Florida and the American West. It is no exaggeration to claim that this is one of the most significant books ever to be written, however this particular translation was not without its own flaws. I could imagine a better, easier to read translation than this (this one was first published in 1961). Additions made in brackets were sometimes confusing and broke in without often adding any information that aided in the reading. He does include portions that compare this account with another referred to as the Joint Report which were all right. Descriptions of place would better have been shown on a map (but the book has no maps or illustrations at all). At the close I would have liked to see a concluding bio of De Vaca but instead got an unneccesary Epilogue on the literary significance of the work, after the work has already spoken for itself. The first time I read about this was in Journey Into Darkness by John Upton Terrell, who used this Relacion to tell the story, but failed by often looking back on the event from our own day, as opposed to transporting you back as a translation of the original Relacion should do. In this case the rating is based only on this edition while the story itself is one of the most important works in the world.

Harrowing, must-read classic--to Mexico from Florida in 1528, 11 Jun 1997
I had never heard of Cabeza De Vaca until I chanced across this book. This is Cabeza De Vaca's story of how he, among two hundred Spanish soldiers, was shipwrecked in Florida in 1528. This harrowing but fascinating story tells about the walk to the nearest Spanish outpost--in Mexico.

It takes years, of course, and along the way, Cabeza De Vaca is sometimes treated as a slave and sometimes as a medicine man by the Indians he encounters. When he arrives in Mexico, he is accompanied only by a large troupe of Indians--everyone else is dead. And the Indians with him are immediately enslaved themselves. He spent the rest of his life battling to help the Indians.

For further information, see http://www3.pbs.org/weta/thewest/wpages/wpgs610/cabeza.htm.

Kill or be Killed, 03 Feb 2008
The only way to defeat the Indians was to kill them. There is no right or wrong in this when two sides want the same thing. The superior white man one and the rest is history.

To one sided, 05 Apr 1999
This may be factual but does not present both sides. It favors the white mans side only. Showing the terrible things the Indians did, but not what provoked them. It gets boring after awhile. The white man commited many crimes against the Indians. The book basicly only showes one side.

Fascinating account of the Plains Wars, 25 Aug 1998
This book is the best ever written on the Indian wars, and it shows the great stupidity of the idea that between the Civil War and Spanish-American War American soldiers were at peace. Nothing could have been further from the truth. "Scalp Dance" shows the gory, harrowing battles waged by handfuls of ill-equipped soldiers against some of the most barbaric opponents America has ever faced. Usually outnumbered and sometimes even despised by some of their own countrymen, these troops were the men who made the settling of the West a fact. Until now, their story and their sacrifices have been largely forgotten thanks to mountains of PC rhetoric. Now "Scalp Dance" has rectified that. Those who loved the movie "Dances With Wolves" should read this book of FACTUAL accounts of the Plains Wars for a no-holds-barred history lesson. "Scalp Dance" is bloody, suspenseful book that is all the more relevant because it's actual history.

The Indian wars from the participiants view, 24 Aug 1998
Tells the story of the indian fighting the decade after the Civil War. Much from letters and diaries. Gives some insights in the fighting but no analyzis, no tactics nor a good discussing summary. But you get the feeling of being at the "frontier".

Ripping good yarn!, 08 Aug 1998
Its a shame that this book tells such a terrible story as its such a well written account of a terrible period of America's history. I found it a very interesting account of Indian warfare on the high plains after the Civil War. The author used first-hand accounts of the fighting and style of warfare used by both sides. The only fault that I could find with this book that there were not many similiar accounts from the 'other' side. Overall an excellent read which makes you realise how lucky we are sometimes and what other people had to endure back in those days.

An exceptional historical narrative, 04 Sep 2000
Using an academic (yet accessible) narrative, Walvin successfully educates the reader about the unspeakable horrors of British slavery. The physical and mental colinisation of the African slaves is brilliantly descirbed, as well as the barbaric conditions that made slavery one of history's most durable institutions. This book should be read by anyone who wishes to unravel the historical fabric of black/white race relations in the western world.

all this for a smoke and a cup of tea?, 31 Oct 1999
Walvin's conclusion that the slave trade was largely driven by British appetite for tobacco and sugar sounds ludicrous and plausible at the same time. To think that the cravings for sweetness could keep the barbarity of the slave trade going over more than two centuries somehow leave a bitter taste in my modern European mouth--good.

Take a hike..., 31 Jan 2005
...as they say in the USA. And this really gets into that philosophy from an angle and an age that is as impossible to replicate, and very hard to believe! Brilliantly written and researched, the journey is a faithfull translation of the text written by de Vaca in his report to the King. It's totally engrossing. If you are student of American or Spanish history, or just into walking, this is one book you cannot afford to miss. Will someone please make this book into a film?

Stunning true story, 18 Mar 1999
After reading Cabeza de Vaca's account, it is hard to believe his tale hasn't been made into an epic movie. Of course, the story's treatment of Indians as real, complex people would not have worked in the era of the cowboy-and-Indian movies. Ironically, now that attitudes toward Native Americans would allow a sensitive treatment, such a vast story would be prohibitively expensive to shoot and take several hours to tell properly. But the payoff would be immense. When the lights came up, the viewers would wonder how they ever could have settled for the mythical movie "Dances with Wolves".

Note: Cabeza de Vaca's story is paraphrased in a book called "Journey into Darkness". It helps greatly in understanding the true nature of his journey, telling, for example, what Indian tribes he may have been encountering and where exactly he was at a given time. Incidently, Cabeza de Vaca greatly underestimated the distance he had traveled.

Great,Short Pre History Account Of Native Culture In America, 16 Sep 1998
One of my favorite books of all time, It is hard to believe that it is a historically factual account. Excellent depiction of the way America was before European intrusion. If anyone knows of a better or similar book please e-mail the title to me.

Good translation of DeVaca's original Relacion., 14 Jun 1998
This work relates the adventures of a Spaniard who travelled on the first foray into Florida, under the command of a greedy Governor Navarez who was eager to find rich cities to conquer, as Cortez had recently done against the Aztecs. Navarez, however, was no Cortez, and one mistake after another put the entire expedition in jeopardy. De Vaca's account relates what became of this expedition into Florida and the American West. It is no exaggeration to claim that this is one of the most significant books ever to be written, however this particular translation was not without its own flaws. I could imagine a better, easier to read translation than this (this one was first published in 1961). Additions made in brackets were sometimes confusing and broke in without often adding any information that aided in the reading. He does include portions that compare this account with another referred to as the Joint Report which were all right. Descriptions of place would better have been shown on a map (but the book has no maps or illustrations at all). At the close I would have liked to see a concluding bio of De Vaca but instead got an unneccesary Epilogue on the literary significance of the work, after the work has already spoken for itself. The first time I read about this was in Journey Into Darkness by John Upton Terrell, who used this Relacion to tell the story, but failed by often looking back on the event from our own day, as opposed to transporting you back as a translation of the original Relacion should do. In this case the rating is based only on this edition while the story itself is one of the most important works in the world.

Harrowing, must-read classic--to Mexico from Florida in 1528, 11 Jun 1997
I had never heard of Cabeza De Vaca until I chanced across this book. This is Cabeza De Vaca's story of how he, among two hundred Spanish soldiers, was shipwrecked in Florida in 1528. This harrowing but fascinating story tells about the walk to the nearest Spanish outpost--in Mexico.

It takes years, of course, and along the way, Cabeza De Vaca is sometimes treated as a slave and sometimes as a medicine man by the Indians he encounters. When he arrives in Mexico, he is accompanied only by a large troupe of Indians--everyone else is dead. And the Indians with him are immediately enslaved themselves. He spent the rest of his life battling to help the Indians.

For further information, see http://www3.pbs.org/weta/thewest/wpages/wpgs610/cabeza.htm.

Kill or be Killed, 03 Feb 2008
The only way to defeat the Indians was to kill them. There is no right or wrong in this when two sides want the same thing. The superior white man one and the rest is history.

To one sided, 05 Apr 1999
This may be factual but does not present both sides. It favors the white mans side only. Showing the terrible things the Indians did, but not what provoked them. It gets boring after awhile. The white man commited many crimes against the Indians. The book basicly only showes one side.

Fascinating account of the Plains Wars, 25 Aug 1998
This book is the best ever written on the Indian wars, and it shows the great stupidity of the idea that between the Civil War and Spanish-American War American soldiers were at peace. Nothing could have been further from the truth. "Scalp Dance" shows the gory, harrowing battles waged by handfuls of ill-equipped soldiers against some of the most barbaric opponents America has ever faced. Usually outnumbered and sometimes even despised by some of their own countrymen, these troops were the men who made the settling of the West a fact. Until now, their story and their sacrifices have been largely forgotten thanks to mountains of PC rhetoric. Now "Scalp Dance" has rectified that. Those who loved the movie "Dances With Wolves" should read this book of FACTUAL accounts of the Plains Wars for a no-holds-barred history lesson. "Scalp Dance" is bloody, suspenseful book that is all the more relevant because it's actual history.

The Indian wars from the participiants view, 24 Aug 1998
Tells the story of the indian fighting the decade after the Civil War. Much from letters and diaries. Gives some insights in the fighting but no analyzis, no tactics nor a good discussing summary. But you get the feeling of being at the "frontier".

Ripping good yarn!, 08 Aug 1998
Its a shame that this book tells such a terrible story as its such a well written account of a terrible period of America's history. I found it a very interesting account of Indian warfare on the high plains after the Civil War. The author used first-hand accounts of the fighting and style of warfare used by both sides. The only fault that I could find with this book that there were not many similiar accounts from the 'other' side. Overall an excellent read which makes you realise how lucky we are sometimes and what other people had to endure back in those days.

An exceptional historical narrative, 04 Sep 2000
Using an academic (yet accessible) narrative, Walvin successfully educates the reader about the unspeakable horrors of British slavery. The physical and mental colinisation of the African slaves is brilliantly descirbed, as well as the barbaric conditions that made slavery one of history's most durable institutions. This book should be read by anyone who wishes to unravel the historical fabric of black/white race relations in the western world.

all this for a smoke and a cup of tea?, 31 Oct 1999
Walvin's conclusion that the slave trade was largely driven by British appetite for tobacco and sugar sounds ludicrous and plausible at the same time. To think that the cravings for sweetness could keep the barbarity of the slave trade going over more than two centuries somehow leave a bitter taste in my modern European mouth--good.