• Conquering the Pacific: An Unknown Mariner and the Final Great Voyage of the Age of Discovery
• By Andrés Reséndez, professor, Department of History

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Sept. 14, 2021)

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”

September is proving to be a historic month for Andrés Reséndez.

The history professor’s last book, the award-winning The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America, has inspired a symposium at the Smithsonian Institution, Sept. 23-27 (see below), and his new book — described by various media as a story “as colorful and momentous as any on record for the Age of Discovery” and “a rip-roaring maritime adventure” — hit the shelves last week.

In Conquering the Pacific, according to Publishers Weekly, Reséndez “delivers a riveting account of the 1564-65 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.”

Four ships set sail from Navidad, Mexico, “each one carrying a dream team of navigators,” according to the publisher, including Lope Martín, a mulatto who had risen through the ranks to become one of the most qualified pilots of the era, and the famed explorer Andrés de Urdaneta, an Augustine friar, piloting two of the four vessels.

“Once underway, the expedition’s lookout ship, piloted by Martín, became separated from the others during a storm,” according to Publishers Weekly. “Reséndez evocatively traces Urdaneta and Martín’s subsequent adventures, including encounters with Pacific Islanders, a mutiny and a near shipwreck” — enlivening the story even more with “lucid explanations of navigational techniques, larger-than-life characters and colorful anecdotes from the age of exploration.”

Martín completed the never-before-accomplished return, or “vuelta,” followed by Urdaneta, who would bask in the glory, while Martín’s stunning accomplishment was lost to history.

Mexico investigated Martín and his captain for leaving the fleet behind — and Martín was sentenced to be hanged for treason.

The publisher’s description concludes: “Acclaimed historian Andrés Reséndez, through brilliant scholarship and riveting storytelling — including an astonishing outcome for the resilient Lope Martín — sets the record straight.”

— Dateline staff

‘THE OTHER SLAVERY’ SYMPOSIUM

• WHAT: “The Other Slavery: Histories of Indian Bondage from New Spain to the Southwestern United States”
• WHEN: 9 p.m. PDT Thursday, Sept. 23, through 9 p.m. PDT Monday, Sept. 27
• WHERE: National Museum of the American Indian website
• ADMISSION: Free