Pensacola A City Under 6 Flags (Prologue) — Before you begin Chapter 1, a few observations on why this story was written may provide a helpful guide. For many years I was privileged to write a number of family, business and organizational histories, plus others that dealt individually with short portions of Pensacola's more than four hundred years of history. Some who had enjo... more »yed those accounts were kind enough to suggest that I prepare a general history of the city. However, there were already several conventional books of this type, and experience had taught me that if one wished to appeal to readers of all ages the saga must be written in a fashion that made the reading easy, and fun. Such was not an easy prospect in preparing a lengthy history.
But then I pulled from our shelves and reread a wonderful novel written in 1987 by Edward Rutherford. That book, Sarum, was a novel which detailed the full history of England from the ice age forward but centered in a single spot, the village of Sarum, which came into being in the distant recesses of time. Through Sarum paraded people and the knowledge of events which told England's story. Fictional families were the vehicles through which events flowed.
And so the idea for Pensacola A City Under 6 Flags was born. The account that follows does not cover the full four-plus centuries of Pensacola's known life. But, the account is sufficiently broad to satisfy what most modern readers might wish to have. Following Mr. Rutherford's plan, I created several fictional families, principally the Hunter clan. It is through their eyes that events are viewed. Through several generations of Hunters the reader will deal with the people and events who made up the city's record.....« less