"Readable short biography of Pedro Arias de Avila y Puñonrostro (1440-1531), better known to history as Pedrarias, early governor of Panama and Nicaragua. Gives due credit for successful efforts to establish Spanish presence in eastern Central America, but does not challenge Pedrarias' well-established reputation for treachery, ruthlessness, and cruelty"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.