There were no more vivid episodes in the colonization of the New World than those resulting from the attempts of the French people to gain a permanent foothold on our shores.... The most thrilling chapter in all this history, strangely neglected or overlooked by the romantic writers, is that of the struggle between the Spanish and French colonists for dominion over our own land of Florida. To me, whose profession it is to see pictures in the words of other men and to produce them, this historic page has appealed very strongly as the proper setting for a human drama--an inviting canvas upon which the imagination may paint a moving picture of the emotions, desires and passions--the loves and hates--of men and women like ourselves--against the somber and sometimes lurid background of historic fact. From chapter 1: It is enough that I loved--and now love--Diane better than woman was ever loved, and that I hated Diego with a hate which has outlived death itself.