Thomas Gage was sent to Spain in 1612 to study under the Jesuits, who hoped he would join the order. Later, as a Dominican, he was smuggled onto a ship headed for the Phillipines in an empty biscuit barrel. He was disowned by his father and anathematized by the English crown, which forbade any of it's citizens to visit the Indies, his final destination.

For the next twelve years Gage lived in Central America, principally in southern Mexico in the Chiapas region and in Guatemala among the indigenous people. The Spanish possessions in the New World were at that time mysterious and unknown to the other European powers, even to the extant of its geographical dimensions. In 1641 Gage returned to England, eventually becoming an Anglican priest, marrying, and publishing his memoirs. The first and second editions of his book set off a firestorm of interest in Latin America that led to more intense conflict with Spain.

This fourth edition has been recently rebound in speckled calf and has the beautifully preserved map of Mexico and the Caribbean, decorated with Indians smoking cigars and brandishing their bows and arrows.