The current image of the Spanish conquest of America and of the conquistadores who carried it out is one of destruction and oppression. One conquistador does not fit that image. A life-changing adventure led Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca to seek a different kind of conquest, one that would be just and humane, true to Spanish religion and law yet safeguarding liberty and justice for the Indians of the New World. His use of the skills learned from his...