The first-person accounts are tied together with extensive introductions and commentaries by two well-known scholars, giving us an intimate portrait and placing the exploration and settlement of Alta California within the history of Baja California and the conquest of the New World.

This ambitious and accessible book, with more than thirty illustrations, maps, and paintings, will influence greatly how we envision the history and legacy of Hispanic California and is sure to become the cornerstone for a new generation of early California studies.

Since most, if not all, of these accounts were originally in Spanish, they require translation, and that is the book's one weakness: almost all the accounts read like they were written by the same person; some of the character of the individual writers is lost.

Nonetheless, this is a good book, both readable and fast-moving. It is interesting that while we know a lot about the Revolutionary era and the founding of the United States, the topics in this book - which take place on the same continent at around the same time - are almost unknown. That, in itself, makes this book a good read.