Author Art Fusco gives you two stories in one book, the first one tells of the San Diego mainland, how it was formed, and who inhabited it before the Spanish arrived. The second story goes back and tells how the outsiders of the first story, the Spanish, developed their culture out of old Muslim academics, as well as Christian and capitalist motivations. The book goes on to talk about how the Spanish then brought that culture to the Americas and to the future lands of San Diego.