Description: The In World History series is a unique combination of biography and history. Each title in the series describes an important and interesting historical event or period in dramatic detail. At the same time, each book highlights one person who is representative of that event or period and presents his or her life, demonstrating how that person's involvement influenced both the way the event unfolded and the course of the history of the world. Each volume includes a timeline, chapter notes, a further reading list with Internet addresses, and an index.

As Captain Hernando de Soto and his fleet of nine ships sailed up the coast of North America on May 25, 1539, the Indian huts scattered along the coast served as a reminder of the expedition's purpose -- to bring Christian religion and European civilization to the natives. For these Spanish explorers, however, the New World was also an untapped land rumored to possess cities of gold and other great treasures, exotic animals, and even mythical springs of water that could make a person live forever. The thirst for their share of these riches fueled de Soto's expedition into uncharted and dangerous regions of the North American Southeast. In Hernando de Soto and the Spanish Search for Gold in World History, author Ann Graham Gaines examines the life and adventures of conquistador Hernando de Soto from his early exploits as a foot soldier in Central and South America to his fame as a brave, wealthy explorer. Highlighting the challenges de Soto and his men faced -- famine, epidemic, bitterly cold winters, and continuous warfare with local Indians -- Gaines shows how the Spanish search for wealth dramatically changed the North American continent.

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