Ralph Bauer presents a comparative investigation of colonial prose narratives in Spanish and British America from 1542 to 1800.

Ralph Bauer is Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. His articles have appeared in numerous collections and journals.

List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; 1. Prospero's progeny; 2. Mythos and epos: Cabeza de Vacas's empire of peace; 3. The geography of history: Samuel Purchas and 'his' pilgrims; 4. 'True histories': the captivities of Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán and Mary White Rowlandson; 5. 'Friends and compatriots': Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora and the piracy of knowledge; 6. 'Husquenawing': William Byrd's 'Creolean humours'; 7. Dismembering the empira: Alonso Carrió de la Vandera and J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur; Notes; Index.