In 1528 Cabeza de Vaca led a Spanish expedition to the Americas, where, shipwrecked in the Gulf of Mexico, he traveled for eight years across North America enduring starvation and enslavement until his eventual rescue by Native Americans. Based on historical fact and acting as a celebration of the human spirit and the brotherhood of all men, this touching novella asks such questions as What is Christian behavior? and What are the universal obligations that bind all humanity together? Though it is considered a spiritual classic, it is also often seen as a seminal work in ecological awareness. A complete description of the slave girl who acted as Cortés's translator while he conquered Mexico is also included in this moving work.