In an exhilarating tale of historic adventure, the Pulitzer
Prize-winning author of Confederates in the Attic retraces the voyages
of Captain James Cook, the Yorkshire farm boy who drew the map of the
modern world
Captain James Cook's three epic journeys in the 18th century were the
last great voyages of discovery. His ships sailed 150,000 miles, from
the Artic to the Antarctic, from Tasmania to Oregon, from Easter Island
to Siberia. When Cook set off for the Pacific in 1768, a third of the
globe remained blank. By the time he died in Hawaii in 1779, the map of
the world was substantially complete.
Tony Horwitz vividly recounts Cook's voyages and the exotic scenes the
captain encountered: tropical orgies, taboo rituals, cannibal feasts,
human sacrifice. He also relives Cook's adventures by following in the
captain's wake to places such as Tahiti, Savage Island, and the Great
Barrier Reef to discover Cook's embattled legacy in the present day.
Signing on as a working crewman aboard a replica of Cook's vessel,
Horwitz experiences the thrill and terror of sailing a tall ship. He
also explores Cook the man: an impoverished farmboy who broke through
the barriers of his class and time to become the greatest navigator in
British history.
By turns harrowing and hilarious, insightful and entertaining, BLUE
LATITUDES brings to life a man whose voyages helped create the 'global
village' we know today.
