Captain Cook : master of the seas / Frank McLynn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McLynn, Frank, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cook, James, 1728-1779.

Cook, James.

Explorers--Great Britain--Biography.

Explorers.

Voyages around the world--History--18th century.

Voyages around the world.

Physical Description:

xv, 490 p., [5] leaves of plates : maps.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, [2011]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The age of discovery was at its peak in the eighteenth century, with heroic adventurers charting the furthest reaches of the globe. Foremost among these explorers was navigator and cartographer Captain James Cook of the British Royal Navy.Recent writers have viewed Cook largely through the lens of colonial exploitation, regarding him as a villain and overlooking an important aspect of his identity: his nautical skills. In this authentic, engrossing biography, Frank McLynn reveals Cook's place in history as a brave and brilliant seaman. He shows how the Captain's life was one of struggle--with himself, with institutions, with the environment, with the desire to be remembered--and also one of great success.In Captain Cook, McLynn re-creates the voyages that took the famous navigator from his native England to the outer reaches of the Pacific Ocean. Ultimately, Cook, who began his career as a deckhand, transcended his humble beginnings and triumphed through good fortune, courage, and talent. Although Cook died in a senseless, avoidable conflict with the people of Hawaii, McLynn illustrates that to the men with whom he served, Cook was master of the seas and nothing less than a titan.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Charting Cook

CHAPTER 1. A Yorkshire Apprenticeship

CHAPTER 2. The Seven Years War

CHAPTER 3. Charting Newfoundland

CHAPTER 4. The Challenge of the Pacific

CHAPTER 5. First Contacts with Tahiti

CHAPTER 6. The Isle of Cythera

CHAPTER 7. Peril in Australasia

CHAPTER 8. Homeward Bound

CHAPTER 9. Antarctica

CHAPTER 10. Tongans and Maoris

CHAPTER 11. Mastering the Pacific

CHAPTER 13. The Last Voyage

CHAPTER 14 Tahiti: The Final Phase

CHAPTER 15. Quest for Illusion: The Northwest Passage

CHAPTER 16. Hawaiian Nightmare

CHAPTER 17. Tragedy on Kealakekua Beach

Conclusion

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (pages [422]-472) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780300172201

0300172206

OCLC:

808346524