Historical sketches so irresistibly readable, they might have been lifted straight from the Arabian Nights.

Christopher Howse has spent more than two decades exploring Spain. For him, its centuries-old cathedrals, monasteries and shrines demand pilgrimage more than tourism. In a journey across the Castilian interior he follows in the footsteps of El Cid and St Dominic, examines St Teresa's arm, samples the legacy of the Cardinal who invaded Africa, finds the spot where St John of the Cross escaped from prison, and discovers in a mountain shrine the world's largest remnant of the True Cross. He comes across a slaughterhouse dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and a cock and hen living in a cathedral. He hears of uncivil war in Europe's most civilised square and enjoys the smells, heat, food, noise, prayers, tears, flies, smoke, violence and laughter of an ancient culture in its last years. With an eye for the humorous and strange, he spends time in Soria and Silos, Yuste and Segovia, before turning from the pilgrim destination of Santiago de Compostela to the valleys of Extremadura, where the Virgin of Guadalupe took the Spanish to an unknown world.

It rises suddenly out of the Sonoran Desert landscape, towering over the tallest tree or cactus, a commanding building with a sensuous dome, elliptical vaults, and sturdy bell towers. There is nothing else like it around, nor does it seem there should be. This incongruity of setting is what strikes first-time visitors to Mission San Xavier del Bac. This great church is of another place and another time, while its beauty is universal and timeless. Mission San Xavier del Bac is a two-century-old Spanish church in southern Arizona located just a few miles from downtown Tucson, a metropolis of more than half a million people in the American Southwest. A National Historic Landmark since 1963, the missionÕs graceful baroque art and architecture have drawn visitors from all over the world. Now Bernard FontanaÑthe leading expert on San XavierÑand award-winning photographer Edward McCain team up to bring us a comprehensive view of the mission as weÕve never seen it before. With 200 stunning full-color photographs and incisive text illuminating the religious, historical, and motivational context of these images, A Gift of Angels is a must-have for tourists, scholars, and other visitors to San Xavier. From its glorious architecture all the way down to the finest details of its art, Mission San Xavier del Bac is indeed a gift of angels.