New York Times: "A fast-paced, moving story, one that is difficult to believe and impossible to forget."

The Boston Globe: "A riveting tale of courage, cruelty, and ultimately survival, Schneider does for Cabeza de Vaca and his comrades what the late Stephen Ambrose did (with ''Undaunted Courage") for Lewis and Clark.

San Francisco Chronicle: "a doozy...in Schneider's hands, it makes for a great bad trip."

Entertainment Weekly: "riveting... incorporates historical and archaeological research without stalling the story's epic sweep."

USA Today: "screams out fun beach read..."

St. Petersburg Times: "a gripping tale..."

Washington Post: "a delicious mix of the horrifying and the cheering."

Dallas Morning News: "a doozy, featuring insurrections, drownings, shamanism, and encounters with native tribes no European ever saw again."

Chicago Tribune: "one of the greatest survival epics of all time."

International Herald Tribune: "fascinating...fills in the missing pieces, bringing to life a nearly 500-year-old tale of disaster, misery and the wages of greed and arrogance."