Lands of Promise and Despair
Chronicles of Early California, 1535–1846

Rose Marie Beebe (Edited by), Robert M Senkewicz (Edited by)

9780806151380

Paperback / softback, published 6 August 2015

528 pages, 108 black & white illustrations, 6 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm, 0.789 kg

If we had only one anthology to cover the sweep of California history from earliest human habitation to conquest by the United States, it would have to be this extraordinary volume, which weaves learned annotation and original documents into a rich mosaic of narrative, fact, and interpretation."" - Kevin Starr University of Southern California

This copious collection of reminiscences, reports, letters, and documents allows readers to experience the vast and varied landscape of early California from the viewpoint of its inhabitants. What emerges is not the Spanish California depicted by casual visitors - a culture obsessed with finery, horses, and fandangos - but an ever-shifting world of aspiration and tragedy, pride and loss. Conflicts between missionaries and soldiers, Indians and settlers, friends and neighbors spill from these pages, bringing the ferment of daily life into sharp focus.