Michael Gannon’s History of Florida in Forty Minutes

In this creative and engaging project, the author of the widely popular
Florida: A Short History
offers a brief, stirring invitation to the state’s history in both audio and print formats. Gannon, a longtime researcher and teacher, packs thousands of years of history and change into a concise, authoritative 40-minute cruise through Florida’s centuries. Spanning millennia from Florida’s earliest inhabitants to the 2004-2005 hurricane seasons, Gannon highlights ten watershed periods in the state’s history. The first four of those periods, covering nearly 12,000 years, were shaped by the original inhabitants followed by Spanish settlers and missionaries, British colonists, the Spanish restoration, and American territorial populations. Political and social strife dominated the next two periods, early statehood, Civil War, and Reconstruction. The final four periods comprise the Flagler era; the land boom; the Second World War; and finally, the age of air conditioning, mosquito control, and VA home loans. Gannon recalls the people, places, and key events shaping the longest recorded history of any of the American states. Presented in a personable, conversational style for all readers and listeners,
Florida in Forty Minutes
is entertaining history, suitable for educational use or as a gift for anyone who loves Florida history.