Please note that while the second edition of this book was published in 1997, the first edition came along in 1956 and the text has not been updated accordingly. In its day I suppose this book would have served its purpose well. That purpose being to expose white settlers to the presence of Florida's Seminole Indians; to show them these Indians were not violent savages, who needed to be feared, nor were they uneducated ruffians living in the Everglades, the country's marshiest swampland by choice. However, that day is 45 years or more gone by. Now, this book is outdated and definitely serves as a sign of the times it was written in, referring to the Seminoles as "social outcasts" and implying that their ways are uncivilized. However, the reason I scored this book so high is because it does contain a lot of historical information about the early migrations of the Seminoles into Florida.

Throughout the book, Neill, places the time constraint on claims and comments of "now" which is of course immensely outdated. Because of the books age, one cannot apply any of Neill's comments to the present-day situation of Florida's Seminoles. But, his research can be helpful when wanting to know more about the history of the Seminoles. For that reason and that reason alone does this book score as high as it does.

Why 2 Stars?: While this book is very dated and may accidentally provide some readers with misinformation as to the current situation of the Seminole Indian Tribe of Florida, it does also contain some very useful historical information.