A swashbuckling adventure story that reveals for the first time how Diego de la Vega became the masked man we all know so well. Born in southern California late in the 18th century, he is a child of two worlds. Diego de la Vega's father is an aristocratic Spanish military man turned landowner; his mother...
a Shoshone warrior. At the age of sixteen, Diego is sent to Barcelona for a European education. In a country chafing under the corruption of Napoleonic rule, Diego follows the example of his celebrated fencing master and joins "La Justicia," a secret underground resistance movement devoted to helping the powerless and the poor.
Between California and Barcelona, the New World and the Old, the persona of Zorro is formed, a great hero is born and the legend begins. After many adventures–duels at dawn, fierce battles with pirates at sea, and impossible rescues–Diego de la Vega, a.k.a. Zorro, returns to America to reclaim the hacienda on which he was raised and to seek justice for all who cannot fight for it themselves.