| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.2

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

The French in Early Florida: In the Eye of the Hurricane. By John T. McGrath. (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2000. xii, 239 pp. $49.95, ISBN 0-8130-1784-X.)

At last, a balanced scholarly study of the French settlement attempts in Florida is available. John T. McGrath's careful and thoroughly researched work, The French in Early Florida, provides a definitive history of the Ribault and Laudonnière expeditions to northeast Florida. Employing both French and Spanish source materials, McGrath has exposed the events, motivations, politics, and schemes in the Franco-Spanish struggle for La Florida. 1

McGrath tells the story succinctly, but soundly. Although the French failure at Charlesfort and the tragic fate of Fort Caroline seemed somehow ordained, Spain's triumph in Florida was not nearly as certain as it now appears in popular history. As the author's research proves, Spain came close to losing Florida and its later control of the Bahama Channel and the treasure route to the Indies. As in the loss of the Spanish Armada in 1588, natural forces and leadership played deciding roles in the outcome of the historical events. . . .

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