It was a voyage of epic scope. In a Spanish plot;to break Portugal's trade monopoly with the fabled Orient, four ships set sail from a hidden Mexican port. The smallest of them was guided by Black seaman Lope Martin, one of the most qualified pilots of the era. Mutiny, murderous encounters with Pacific islanders, and extreme physical hardships followed-and at last a triumphant return to the New World. But the pilot of the fleet's flagship, the Augustine friar Andrés de Urdaneta, also achieved the vuelta, while Martín was sentenced to be hanged by the Spanish crown as repayment for his services. Acclaimed historian Andrés Reséndez delivers a "rip-roaring maritime adventure" (Publishers Weekly, starred review), making the riveting case for Martin as the scandalously overlooked Columbus of the Pacific. Book jacket.