Journey to the Sun: Junipero Serra's Dream and the Founding of California

In this vivid account of the life of Junipero Serra, Orfalea (Arab Americans: A Quest for Their History and Culture) offers not only a biography of the Spanish priest who fearlessly traveled the New World in the name of God, but an early history of California and its cultural origins. In 1749 under the guise of the Catholic Church, Serra left Spain to pursue missionary work in the New World. Yet upon his arrival Serra did more than erect churches and convert Native Americans, he cultivated multiple societies, many of which are now major cities in California: San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Juan Capistrano, and San Francisco. By focusing on one man's journey, Orfalea adds to the narrative with specifics%E2%80%94including actual confessions from believers and other insight gleaned from primary sources%E2%80%94without glazing over or sugar-coating the reality of what Spain's invasion in the New World meant for the natives who already resided there. California may be one of America's most youthful states but it does not lack the history one might assume, it only needs to be seen through the eyes of the right man. (Jan.)