diff --git a/docs/python-api.rst b/docs/python-api.rst
index 1ffc94d..d3d05d3 100644
--- a/docs/python-api.rst
+++ b/docs/python-api.rst
@@ -125,6 +125,43 @@ After inserting a row like this, the ``dogs.last_rowid`` property will return th
 
 The ``dogs.last_pk`` property will return the last inserted primary key value, if you specified one. This can be very useful when writing code that creates foreign key or many-to-many relationships.
 
+Explicitly creating a table
+---------------------------
+
+You can directly create a new table without inserting any data into it using the ``.create()`` method::
+
+    db["cats"].create({
+        "id": int,
+        "name": str,
+        "weight": float,
+    }, pk="id")
+
+The first argument here is a dictionary specifying the columns you would like to create. Each column is paired with a Python type indicating the type of column. See :ref:`python_api_add_column` for full details on how these types work.
+
+This method takes optional arguments ``pk=``, ``column_order=`` and ``foreign_keys=``.
+
+Specifying foreign keys
+-----------------------
+
+Any operation that can create a table (``.create()``, ``.insert()``, ``.insert_all()``, ``.upsert()`` and ``.upsert_all()``) accepts an optional ``foreign_keys=`` argument which can be used to set up foreign key constraints for the table that is being created.
+
+If you are using your database with `Datasette <https://datasette.readthedocs.io/>`__, Datasette will detect these constraints and use them to generate hyperlinks to associated records.
+
+The ``foreign_keys`` argument takes a sequence of three-tuples, each one specifying the column, other table and other column that should be used to create the relationship. For example:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    db["authors"].insert_all([
+        {"id": 1, "name": "Sally"},
+        {"id": 2, "name": "Asheesh"}
+    ], pk="id")
+    db["books"].insert_all([
+        {"title": "Hedgehogs of the world", "author_id": 1},
+        {"title": "How to train your wolf", "author_id": 2},
+    ], foreign_keys=[
+        ("author_id", "authors", "id")
+    ])
+
 Bulk inserts
 ============
 
diff --git a/sqlite_utils/db.py b/sqlite_utils/db.py
index c30de6f..725ba53 100644
--- a/sqlite_utils/db.py
+++ b/sqlite_utils/db.py
@@ -109,6 +109,14 @@ class Database:
         if hash_id:
             column_items.insert(0, (hash_id, str))
             pk = hash_id
+        # Sanity check foreign_keys point to existing tables
+        for _, fk_other_table, fk_other_column in foreign_keys:
+            if not any(
+                c for c in self[fk_other_table].columns if c.name == fk_other_column
+            ):
+                raise AlterError(
+                    "No such column: {}.{}".format(fk_other_table, fk_other_column)
+                )
         extra = ""
         columns_sql = ",\n".join(
             "   [{col_name}] {col_type}{primary_key}{references}".format(
@@ -117,8 +125,8 @@ class Database:
                 primary_key=" PRIMARY KEY" if (pk == col_name) else "",
                 references=(
                     " REFERENCES [{other_table}]([{other_column}])".format(
-                        other_table=foreign_keys_by_name[col_name][2],
-                        other_column=foreign_keys_by_name[col_name][3],
+                        other_table=foreign_keys_by_name[col_name][1],
+                        other_column=foreign_keys_by_name[col_name][2],
                     )
                     if col_name in foreign_keys_by_name
                     else ""
diff --git a/tests/test_create.py b/tests/test_create.py
index 4ccfcc0..7aaae5d 100644
--- a/tests/test_create.py
+++ b/tests/test_create.py
@@ -96,10 +96,7 @@ def test_create_table_works_for_m2m_with_only_foreign_keys(fresh_db):
     fresh_db["two"].insert({"id": 1}, pk="id")
     fresh_db["m2m"].insert(
         {"one_id": 1, "two_id": 1},
-        foreign_keys=(
-            ("one_id", "INTEGER", "one", "id"),
-            ("two_id", "INTEGER", "two", "id"),
-        ),
+        foreign_keys=(("one_id", "one", "id"), ("two_id", "two", "id")),
     )
     assert [
         {"name": "one_id", "type": "INTEGER"},
@@ -124,6 +121,15 @@ def test_create_table_works_for_m2m_with_only_foreign_keys(fresh_db):
     )
 
 
+def test_create_error_if_invalid_foreign_keys(fresh_db):
+    with pytest.raises(AlterError):
+        fresh_db["one"].insert(
+            {"id": 1, "ref_id": 3},
+            pk="id",
+            foreign_keys=(("ref_id", "bad_table", "bad_column"),),
+        )
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "col_name,col_type,expected_schema",
     (