Everyone knows of Columbus and Ponce de Leon, but the name of Menendez is not as familiar. Yet Pedro Menendez de Aviles might truly be called one of the founding fathers of America, for he was the founder of the nation's oldest city—St. Augustine.

This book is the first to be written about Menendez. It is based on scholarly research, but it is not just a work for the scholar. It was written for the education and enjoyment of any reader who wants to meet this remarkable man. Manucy has dramatized historic moments so that history comes alive and we find ourselves in the midst of it.