The book is an account of the eight-year journey of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish explorer who was shipwrecked in Florida in 1528. He and three other survivors endured incredible hardships, including enslavement, starvation, and disease. However, Cabeza de Vaca's resilience and adaptability allowed him to survive and even thrive among the Native American tribes he encountered. He became a trader, a healer, and a guide, and his knowledge of the land and its people proved invaluable to the Spanish when they eventually returned to the area.