Describes the daily life of people who settled in the California missions, why the missions were built, and explores the reasons for the end of the mission era.

Accurate renderings of 21 structures: San Diego de Alcalá, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Clara de Asís, San José de Guadalupe, Santa Cruz, many more, plus reali

Studies of the Spanish conquest in the Americas traditionally have explained European-Indian encounters in terms of such factors as geography, timing, and the c

"More than 300 illustrations, including historic photographs, maps, and the history and major events at the missions make this book the most complete contempora

California would be a different place today without the imprint of Spanish culture and the legacy of Indian civilization. The colonial Spanish missions that dot