Florida Made: The 25 Most Important Figures Who Shaped the State (American Heritage)

Essential reading for those who want to understand how Florida got to this point, conveyed via a ranked set of influential people. Of course it is subjective when you play the rankings game, but the authors have exhaustively researched from a broader pool to come up with an interesting set of folks who truly guided and shaped Florida to where it is today. Lots of lesser known and interesting back-stories on people you know by first name (Walt), along with others you may learn for the first time. As a history buff and Floridian, I have read other works on how we got here and who we are, both sober and entertaining. For me, this falls in the middle and provides a great way to get some context on our unique, interesting, sometimes crazy and wonderful state.

Gifted my mother who loves books and history of Florida. I was born and raised here, family came in early 1900's. She loves all things florida. She liked the book.

Filled with facts about Florida history that I hadn't known before. The most influential individuals is an interesting concept and the individuals are well selected and documented. Sometimes a little dry reading and sometimes too politically corrected, but what can you expect - written by a politician. Worth your time if you are interested in Florida.

My Floridian parents enjoyed this book very much. Dad is a transplant and a history buff, and it was a gift to him. Mom is a native and not a history buff but ended up reading it and asking me to give a copy to an uncle for Christmas.

Great book! As a person who was born and raised in Florida, this book had so much history that I never even knew.