Missionary, Explorer, Martyr

Yesterday my review of Jeremy Beer’s Beyond the Devil's Road: Francisco Garcés and the Spanish Encounter with the American Southwest, “Missionary, Explorer, Martyr”, from the Spring 2025 issue of Religion & Liberty was published online.

It was a tremendously fun and informative work of history, but also offers a slice of the spiritual life and world of Father Garcés:

Much of Beyond the Devil’s Road recounts the increasingly lengthy treks of Father Garcés into the often treacherous and hostile landscape of the American Southwest. These sections are fascinating, filled with episodes of immense courage, stark landscapes, and details of the life of the Indian nations that inhabited them. Beer, however, is never content simply to serve up adventure to the reader; instead, he delivers deeply researched accounts of the theological and geopolitical motive forces driving these harrowing journeys. He also deftly explores just how tightly those theological and geopolitical motivations are intertwined in Father Garcés’ world.

Full review available here. Enjoy!