Throughtout the Americas the name Balboa is associated with the discovery of the Pacific. Yet it is surprising how few persons know the true story of the man, or have a clear picture of the momentous events that surrounded the first sighting of the earth's largest ocean.

This biography of Vasco Núñez de Balboa shows him not only as the most formidable swordsman of the early sixteenth century and an outstanding colonizer and military strategist, but also as a noble, kindly man. With his Indian princess, his young native friend "Carlos", and his dog Leoncico, Balboa commanded the respect and devotion of thousands of people who knew other white conquistadors only as brutal taskmasters. Here, too, are little-known stories of Ponce de Leon, Cortez, Pizarro and other captains who trailed Columbus to the New World. Finally—from the records of those times—there is the account of how Balboa went so bravely to his death.

Authentic as well as exciting, this book will hold any reader's attention from beginning to end. For Felix Riesenberg, Jr. brings Balboa to life, recreating his early days as a page boy in the household of a noble, as well as the swordfights, shipwreck, battle and intrigues and the terrible march across the Isthmas when Balboa and his companions looked upon the blue waters of an ocean whose discovery changed the maps of the world and the course of history.

From the dust jacket