A New History Puts a Critical Eye to Florida’s Past

The Takeaway

Earlier this month, Florida celebrated the 500th anniversary of explorer Ponce de León’s discovery of the state.  In  new book, “Finding Florida,”  T. D. Allman  takes a critical look at the forces that shaped that state – starting with Ponce de Leon.
Allman writes: “Florida is like Play-Doh. Take the goo; mold it to your dream. Then watch the dream ooze back into goo. Contrary to what our school books taught us, Ponce did not discover Florida. He never did much of anything here except get himself killed.”

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