An Extraordinary Atlantic Life ─ Sebastian Nicolas Calvo De La Puerta Y Oarrill, Marques De Casa-Calvo

"Although not widely known in Louisiana, Sebastiâan Calvo de la Puerta was an interim governor for two years (1799-1801), during an era that most historians have ignored. He came from a Spanish family that settled in Havana in the sixteenth century. It gradually became very wealthy because of sugar, but Sebastiâan chose a military career and gradually rose to the rank of general. The study reveals Spanish settlement in Cuba, Cuba's importance in the Spanish empire, Spain's economic and military decline, the French invasion of Spain (1808-1813), and Sebastiâan's last years in Paris. All this is accomplished despite leaving virtually no personal papers or even a picture of himself. The study helps to clarify who this person was and the times in which he lived."--Provided by puglisher.

Gilbert C. Din holds AB and MA degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and a doctorate from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain, all in history. He specializes in the Spanish period (1763-1803) of colonial Louisiana and has published a number of books and many articles about its history. Among the awards he has won are two Kemper Williams Prizes for The Canary Islanders of Louisiana (1988) and Spaniards, Planters, and Slaves: The Spanish Regulation of Slavery in Louisiana (1999).