Calafia is a historical fiction thriller about the story of the Spanish discovery and colonization of Alta California, known today simply as California. This gripping account chronicles the life-and-death clash of cultures on the early western frontier. From power mongers pulling strings behind the scenes to the explorers carrying out their often-brutal orders, this novel is loaded with actual accounts and versions of the people’s history of California. A rarely told origin steeped in violence and marked by struggle, this tale of U.S. history is narrated by Sergio Monino. After a lifetime of service as a transcriber to King Charles III’s chief minister and to several Alta California governors, Sergio sits at his desk in Monterey in 1818 to pen Calafia for posterity. Part memoir, part narrative history, his story is filled with political intrigue, military exploits, daring exploration, religious beginnings, and development. As fascinating, as it is distressing, through Calafia Sergio shares a sympathetic account of the indigenous people who would eventually be displaced by European pioneers in one of the greatest U.S. historical adventures threaded through land and sea.