John L. Kessell's Spain in the Southwest is a fast-paced, abundantly illustrated history of the Spanish colonies that became the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California. With an eye for human interest, Kessell tells the story of New Spain's vast frontier -- today's American Southwest and Mexican North -- which for two centuries served as a dynamic yet disconnected periphery of the Spanish empire.Chronicling the period of Hispanic activity from the time of Columbus to Mexico's independence from Spain in 1821, Kessell traces the three great swells of Hispanic exploration, encounter, and influence that rolled north from Mexico across the coasts and high deserts of the western borderlands. The first surge, set in motion by Columbus, lasted from the medieval quest of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado to the failed business ventures of Juan de Onate and Sebastian Vizcaino, from roughly 1540 to 1610. During the second, the 1680s and 1690s, questing and evangelism gave way to imperial defense, as American Indian peoples fought back and the French challenged Spain's exclusiveness west of the Mississippi. By the time of the third wave, from the 1770s to the 1790s, Spanish explorers and reformers sought to reassert and expand Spain's New World empire.Across this sprawling historical landscape, Kessell treats grand themes through the lives of individuals.

He explains the frequent cultural clashes and accommodations in remarkably balanced terms. Stereotypes, the author writes, are of no help. Indians also could be arrogant and brutal, and Spaniards caring. If we select the facts to fit preconceived notions, we can make the story come out the way we want, but if the peoples of thecolonial Southwest are seen as they really were -- more alike than diverse, and sharing similar inconstant natures -- then we need have no favorites.