A pacey account [of] a triumph of seamanship over wind and water. And credit for it, Mr. Reséndez shows persuasively, rests with a brilliant pilot whose role has long been neglected.” — Wall Street Journal
“Riveting...Enlivened by lucid explanations of navigational techniques, larger-than-life characters, and colorful anecdotes from the age of exploration, this is a rip-roaring maritime adventure.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[Reséndez] makes the details fascinating and compelling. Readers of sailing and adventure stories will find this true account both enlightening and exciting.” — Booklist ( starred review)
“Andrés Reséndez’s Conquering the Pacific is a masterwork of narrative and conception. Reséndez magically transforms dogged archival research into a sweeping vision of the past, capturing the grandest of epochs—of sail, of discovery, of conquest, of slavery and the beginning of globalization—in the thrilling life of a heretofore anonymous master and commander. A riveting tour-de-force.” — Greg Grandin, Pultizer Prize-winning author of The End of the Myth and Empire's Workshop
“At once learned and lively, Conquering the Pacific is a remarkable journey of discovery. Conquering the Pacific has it all: a covert mission, mutiny and swordplay on the high seas, and a dynamic lead role in Lope Martín, the courageous and heroic Afro-Portuguese navigator. The crisp narrative whirls like a gyre, transporting readers to previously unknown seas and shores. A vital, captivating read.” — Buddy Levy, author of Labyrinth of Ice
“A historian, sailor, and master storyteller, Andrés Reséndez pilots us brilliantly through the intricacies of long-distance Pacific navigation during the last decades of the Age of Discovery. His mesmerizing account of momentous deep-water voyages involving weeks out of sight of land is a masterpiece of detailed historical inquiry and writing. I couldn’t put it down.” — Brian Fagan, author of The Little Ice Age and Beyond the Blue Horizon
“[A] taut reconstruction of the first recorded west-to-east crossing of the Pacific.” — New Yorker
[Reséndez] makes the details fascinating and compelling. Readers of sailing and adventure stories will find this true account both enlightening and exciting.
Booklist (starred review)
[A] taut reconstruction of the first recorded west-to-east crossing of the Pacific.
Andrés Reséndez’s Conquering the Pacific is a masterwork of narrative and conception. Reséndez magically transforms dogged archival research into a sweeping vision of the past, capturing the grandest of epochs—of sail, of discovery, of conquest, of slavery and the beginning of globalization—in the thrilling life of a heretofore anonymous master and commander. A riveting tour-de-force.
A historian, sailor, and master storyteller, Andrés Reséndez pilots us brilliantly through the intricacies of long-distance Pacific navigation during the last decades of the Age of Discovery. His mesmerizing account of momentous deep-water voyages involving weeks out of sight of land is a masterpiece of detailed historical inquiry and writing. I couldn’t put it down.
A pacey account [of] a triumph of seamanship over wind and water. And credit for it, Mr. Reséndez shows persuasively, rests with a brilliant pilot whose role has long been neglected.
At once learned and lively, Conquering the Pacific is a remarkable journey of discovery. Conquering the Pacific has it all: a covert mission, mutiny and swordplay on the high seas, and a dynamic lead role in Lope Martín, the courageous and heroic Afro-Portuguese navigator. The crisp narrative whirls like a gyre, transporting readers to previously unknown seas and shores. A vital, captivating read.”
[A] taut reconstruction of the first recorded west-to-east crossing of the Pacific.
Andrés Reséndez’s Conquering the Pacific is a masterwork of narrative and conception. Reséndez magically transforms dogged archival research into a sweeping vision of the past, capturing the grandest of epochs—of sail, of discovery, of conquest, of slavery and the beginning of globalization—in the thrilling life of a heretofore anonymous master and commander. A riveting tour-de-force.
★ 07/19/2021
U.C. Davis history professor Reséndez (The Other Slavery ) delivers a riveting account of the 1564–1565 Spanish expedition that was the first to cross the Pacific Ocean from the Americas to Asia and return, launching an era of global trade with the Far East. Spain funded the costly expedition out of a port in Navidad, Mexico, building four ships in secrecy from its competitor Portugal, and recruiting a skilled, multinational crew. Included were famed explorer and Augustine friar Andrés de Urdaneta and Afro-Portuguese pilot Lope Martín, who had achieved the highest rank available to a “free mulatto.” Once underway, the expedition’s lookout ship, piloted by Martín, became separated from the others during a storm. Reséndez evocatively traces Urdaneta and Martín’s subsequent adventures, including encounters with Pacific Islanders, a mutiny, and a near shipwreck. Though Martín’s smaller vessel was the first to complete the west-east return, Urdaneta, sailing on a much larger ship, received all the glory. Meanwhile, Martín and his captain were investigated in Mexico for leaving the expedition behind. While the captain was allowed to return to Spain, Martín was sentenced to be hanged for treason, yet he managed to escape. Enlivened by lucid explanations of navigational techniques, larger-than-life characters, and colorful anecdotes from the age of exploration, this is a rip-roaring maritime adventure. Agent: Susan Rabiner. (Sept.)
★ 08/01/2021
In a book that mixes stirring adventure story with inspired scholarship, Reséndez (history, Univ. of California, Davis; The Other Slavery , a National Book Award finalist) details the biracial Black mariner Lope Martín's round-trip voyage from Navidad, on the west coast of Mexico, to the Philippines, in 1564–65. Martín was a navigator in Spain's expedition to undercut Portugal in Asia; the largest of its four ships was 60 feet long, while the smallest, the San Lucas , was only 20 feet. He piloted the San Lucas on its return trip to Mexico, when it became the first European vessel to successfully sail east across the Pacific, against the prevailing ocean currents that impeded earlier attempts, Reséndez writes. On the way, the crew faced hunger, fierce storms, near-shipwreck, and even mutiny, but the San Lucas completed the never-before-accomplished return trip and reached Mexico at least a month before the expedition's largest ship. Reséndez does a superb job explaining the challenges of early sea navigation, including navigating circular ocean currents and the contrary ways of Earth's magnetic fields. The book is complete with extensive maps charting the journey and archival photographs. VERDICT A vivid tale of adventure and discovery that will draw in all history lovers. Reséndez's skillful writing is fast-paced, inviting, and descriptive, setting this book apart.—David Keymer, Cleveland
In 1564, crossing the Pacific Ocean from Navidad, Mexico, to the present-day Philippines in a ship less than 100 feet long was fraught with danger and physical hardship—but it had been done. However, fighting against trade winds and ocean currents to return from Asia to the Americas had never been accomplished. With a bright upbeat delivery, narrator Phil Morris, tells the story of Lupe Martin, an Afro-Portuguese sailor and master pilot whose navigational skills led a tattered ship north past Japan, back east to North America, and home, opening the entire globe to European trade. Morris’s ease with Spanish and nautical terms is a plus. Martin is later accused of mutiny and his name all but erased from history. B.P. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
DECEMBER 2021 - AudioFile