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The inhabitants of Ulietea speak of an uninhabited island about this situation called by them Mopeha to which they go at certain seasons for turtle. ... Read more

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Ages 8 to 14 years.In the 1700s, the voyages of British Captain James Cook shed light on what life was really like in the uncharted Pacific. Hired to seek an undiscovered continent known by astronomers and geographers as Terra Australis Incognita, or unknown southern land, Cook proved that it didn't exist, dramatically changing Europeans' understanding of their world. Young readers will also be fascinated by Cook's encounters of the cultures of the native peoples of Tahiti and Hawaii. A recipe from the period is also included. Topics include: Cook's youth as an apprentice and early training in the British Royal Navy; a map of Cook's routes; the discovery of Tahiti, Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand; customs of the native peoples, including the Kaua'i, Maori, and Tahitians; Cook's ships, the Adventure and the Resolution; the responsibilities of the crew and how they coped with illnesses such as scurvy; a fun-to-make recipe from the period; the long-awaited transit of Venus; the findings of the Royal Geographic Society. ... Read more

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The skills, knowledge and experience that took Captain James Cook to the South Seas and around the world seemed to come out of nowhere. In fact, as author Jerry Lockett has discovered, their foundation was laid duringthe time he spent in Atlantic Canada. His experiences on Canada's east coast and the naval men he met there shaped him to become one of the most successful explorers of all time.

Cook arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1758 as a competent but undistinguishedwarrant officer in Britain's Royal Navy. Over the next nine years he learned the complex skill of navigation and prepared many detailed maps of the coastline and key harbours. He left nine years later with the skills and reputation that made him an obvious choice to lead a voyage of exploration to the far side of the world.

In this absorbing and well-researched biography Jerry Lockett tells us of Cook's experiences as a young man and of the influential men who became his mentors and patrons. He also describes Cook's role in the key British military actions at Louisbourg and Quebec which brought an effective end to the French regime in North America. ... Read more

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This book is a gripping account of the career and achievements of one of the most intriguing figures of world exploration and British naval history -- Captain James Cook. Born in 1728, the son of a farm laborer, Cook, through sheer determination, keen intellect and consummate skills as a seaman, rose to honours and recognition in his own time and to a unique and enduring prominence in the history of navigation. The book retraces Cook?s three voyages, ending with his tragic death in Hawaii in 1779. It also assesses his unique contribution to exploration and discovery, to seafaring, science and medicine. It took extraordinary courage to sail for months on end through unchartered waters, aboard crowded ships, relying almost entirely on the skills and knowledge of the sea possessed by the captain, his officers and crew. One can almost feel the spray and taste the salt as this fast-moving narrative unfolds. Superbly illustrated with Bill Finnis's photographs, maps and evocative sketches from his own six-year voyage, as well as the charts, paintings and engravings of the period, this fascinating book offers a unique understanding of the personality and achievements of Captain James Cook, seaman and scientist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This man can write.
There are those who are quite able to transfer their research into the written word in such a way that the reader is fully able to enjoy the fruits of their work - and there are those who are not.Thankfully, Bill Finnis belongs to the former group.

"Captain James Cook - Seaman and Scientist" arrived through my letterbox just as I was departing for a week's diving on one of the many Safari Boats found in the Egyptian Red Sea. I always take a good book on such trips and this one proved to be an excellent choice.

This is a hardback book measuring approx. 11in x 8¼in, containing almost 250 pages of text with just the right amount of charts, sketches, portraits and photographs in support. The book begins with a chapter headed "Setting the Scene" and that is precisely what it does. Drawing on his own vast experience of the sea, the author explains the prevailing wind conditions in the Pacific Ocean before reminding us of the contributions made by a host of individuals - many of us will remember from our school days; Magellan, Drake, Anson, Bougainville, Dampier and Cartaret - to name but some.

So, having been reminded of what has gone before in terms of world exploration we are now treated to an exposé of Cook's early years and how he came to be apprenticed to a small shipping company in Whitby on the Yorkshire coast.Then, after some 4 years - and just as he is offered his very first command of a merchant ship, he elects instead to widen his horizons by joining the Navy.

What follows is an immensely readable account of Cook's life and, of course, his death. Along the way, we learn of the difficulties associated with determining longitude and how this led to errors in fixing the precise positions of islands being charted by various explorers. We also learn how William Bligh - later to become that famous Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame, accompanied Cook on his last voyage.Perhaps, after learning so much about navigation from the great man himself, it was little wonder that Bligh survived that epic voyage in a small open boat after having been evicted from his ship.

Elsewhere, we learn how Cook had conducted a detailed survey of the Coast of New Zealand during 1769-1770. I particularly liked the comment whereby, in 1943 US Forces were based in that country and decided the charts should be brought up to date. Their own survey of the New Zealand coastline revealed several apparent errors made by Cook. Some years later, with the benefit of satellite position fixing, it was found that the US Forces were in error and Cook had been right all along.

In summary, this book contains 250 pages of historical detail written in a style which makes it hard to put down. It is a fascinating account of one of history's most fascinating men and the reader will not be disappointed by either the content or the way in which it is presented.

NM

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James Cook, sailor, surveyor, cartographer, and explorer, was born in 1728 in Yorkshire. In the course of his illustrious career, he sailed into every ocean and was one of the first, if not the first, British explorers to set foot on most of the world's major continents. He was also the first to cross both the Arctic and Antarctic Circles.

Captain Cook's World is an atlas, chronology, and biography of the life and voyages of this celebrated explorer. A set of 128 specially drawn maps and accompanying text give a detailed overview of his life, including his early years in England, his time in the North Sea coal trade and with the Royal Navy in Canada, and his three great voyages around the world in HMB Endeavour and HMS Resolution. Included on the maps are locations visited, named, or surveyed by Cook; the routes of his voyages; and sites that have been marked in his honor, such as monuments.

Based on meticulous scholarship but aimed at a general audience, Captain Cook's World is a fascinating and accessible record of Cook's life and travels.

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Customer Reviews (1)

Trajectory of Captain James Cook
This book caught my eye at Pearl Harbor on my first significant visit to Hawaii a few weeks ago.Had to order it as soon as I got home.Outstanding digest of Cook's lifetime of exploration.Excellent format with its mixture of concise narrative and outstanding maps.Fascinating "read", I couldn't put it down.Excellent level of detail -- enough to be truly educational -- not so much as to overload.Emotionally moving to recall standing on Hawaiian soil and try to imagine the worlds meeting in the explorations of Cook's time.This book helped stitch my own experience to the history of the explorations. ... Read more

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The Captain James Cook of standard history books is asuccessful navigator and cartographer who brought many of the islandsof the south Pacific under British influence. We associate him withAustralia, Easter Island, the Marquesas, and Hawaii, where he met hisend.

What we don't know about Captain Cook is that he learned and perfectedhis skills of cartography mapping the coasts of Nova Scotia andNewfoundland. More interesting to Canadians, he was present at two ofthe most significant battles that shaped our history: the Battle ofLouisbourg and the Battle of Quebec.

To Go Upon Discovery: James Cook and Canada, from 1758 to 1779, is afascinating read as it takes the reader from Cook's humble beginningsin Yorkshire - in a town that had yet to feel the changes of theIndustrial Revolution and was relatively unchanged from the time ofthe Middle Ages -through his brief schooling and clerkship in a shopto his apprenticeship as a seaman.

Cook's life was - until his untimely death - an amalgam of commonsense, hard work, good luck, and providence. He rose through the ranksof the Royal Navy steadily, achieving at an early age positions oftenreserved for men of less humble birth.

Cook's years in Canada were pivotal times in our history. Althoughassociated more commonly with his more famous explorations of theSouth Pacific, Cook's work in mapping the coasts of Nova Scotia andNewfoundland were extremely important. Important, because throughthese undertakings Cook transformed himself into an excellentcartographer. Equally important, because his maps of the coast ofNewfoundland were the most accurate until modern times.

Cook's is a fascinating life and now, with Victor Suthren'scontribution, that life has been realised more fully. ... Read more

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With her brilliant economy of style, Blumberg tells of the three major voyages of Captain Cook that brought our understanding of the globe into focus and introduced Europeans to the cultures of such exotic places as Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia. 70 black-and-white prints. Maps. ... Read more

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James Cook grew up on a farm, but his secret dream was to be a sailor. He wanted to travel "as far as it was possible for man to go." James's three great voyages of discovery took him from Australia to the Arctic, further than anyone else had sailed before. His explorations filled in the last empty space on the map of the world. ... Read more

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In 1768 James Cook, on an epic sea journey that secured his place in history, discovered Australia. One hundred years later, countering cherished legends, George Collingridge dared to claim that the Portuguese had gotten to Australia first. Now Vanessa Collingridge, his distant cousin, unravels the strange tale of history's most fascinating explorer and the man who sought to dethrone him. Collingridge charts Cook's celebrated voyages: Cook mapped the Pacific Islands, circumnavigated Antarctica, charted New Zealand, and discovered the New Hebrides and Australia, curing scurvy along the way. He was shipwrecked on the Great Barrier Reef, cruised with sails frozen solid amid two-hundred-foot-tall icebergs, struggled to keep his crew from losing battles with alcohol and Polynesian women, and somehow managed to stay one step ahead of competing French and Spanish explorers. Over his twenty-one years of adventure-until his murder on a beach in Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii in 1779-Cook changed the Western map of the world. Or so schoolchildren were taught. In 1883 British aristocrat George Collingridge sailed Down Under in search of adventure-and came across maps of Australia dated 1542 and 1546, drawn in northern France but based on Portuguese originals, suggesting that Cook was not the first to reach Australia. The proposal would prove Collingridge's undoing-and yet it is a controversy that lives on. (6 x 9 1/4, 384 pages, illustrations) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

PACY RECOUNTING OF THE COOK STORY AND LINKS WITH COLLINGRIDG
Vanessa Collingridge has written a pacy book that nicely describes the 3 expeditions of Cook to the Pacific and focuses on his cartography, his ideas about scurvy, his ideas about how to relate to the peoples encountered...and about the links between the Cook mythology (eg discoverer of Australia) and reality (he was not the first).

It's annoying the book I bought (hardback) did not contain better maps...(there were virtually none)...so I had trouble following the twists and turns of Cooks travels.

Charts all of Cook's voyages of exploration
This superbly presented history charts all of Cook's voyages of exploration; from his mapping of the Pacific Islands and travels through Antarctica to discoveries of New Hebrides and Australia. His many adventures receive lively coverage in a title which explains how Cook changed the Western map of the world - and reveals that he was not the first to do so. An involving re-examination of Cook's achievements.

THIS WAS A WONDERFUL BOOK ON CAPTAIN COOK ALSO THE UNKNOWN
THIS WAS A WONDERFUL BOOK ON CAPTAIN COOK ALSO THE UNKNOWN GEORGE COLLINGBRIDGE, AND VANESSA COLLINGBRIDGE THE AUTHOR
Look at the subject first then read on. How I came about this book was I saw preview for History Channel's reality series on called the ship which was based on Captain Cook's first voyage. So I went to Barnes and Noble store with my mom and sister and saw this on one of the new books table in the front of the store. Miss Collingbridge is James Cook's distant cousin, and George Collingbridge's neice or cousin I forgot what which it was. The book was about how their lifes became almost the same not everything about (sorry for my grammar). This book was though (however you spell it) research, well written, and so on. I recommed not reading chapter 30. Obsession and Betrayal James Cook 1779 on pg. 327 past midnight because you will be thinking of it and have bad dreams about it and then finish the book...I still recommed reading it still.

THIS WAS A WONDERFUL BOOK ON CAPTAIN COOK ALSO THE UNKNOWN
THIS WAS A WONDERFUL BOOK ON CAPTAIN COOK ALSO THE UNKNOWN GEORGE COLLINGBRIDGE, AND VANESSA COLLINGBRIDGE THE AUTHOR
Look at the subject first then read on. How I came about this book was I saw preview for History Channel's reality series on called the ship which was based on Captain Cook's first voyage...Mrs. Collingbridge is James Cook's distant cousin, and George Collingbridge's neice or cousin I forgot what which it was. The book was about how their lifes became almost the same not everything about (sorry for my grammar). This book was though (however you spell it) research, well written, and so on...

Global Exploration with Heroism and Civility
For various reasons, there continues to be substantial interest in great explorers such as Ernest Shackleton, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Robert Falcon Scott, and James Cook. This the first of two books about Cook which I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed. (The other is Tony Horwitz's Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before.) They discuss a common subject but from different perspectives. I highly recommend both. Of special interest to me is what Collingridge learned about an ancestor, George Collingridge (1847-1931), while consulting an abundance of research resources. He was among the first to challenge the generally accepted belief that Cook was the first to "discover" Australia during various voyages. (Cook traveled more than 200,000 miles during the years 1768-1789, limited by crude navigational instruments but sustained by his superior skills as a seaman.) Of her ancestor Collingridge observes: "He was eccentric and colorful and too given to whims of fancy and dreadful puns, but the bulk of his [own] research is basically sound." Both Horwitz and Vanessa Collingridge seem to agree that Cook was -- as was Shackleton -- a great leader. Also, that he treated the native people "with a decency that shattered all convention." Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to read Horwitz's. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

a great example
J.C. Beaglehole has brought to life in this book, not only the greatest seaman and navigator ever, but a man that should be revered as a perfect showcase of human quality. The book is very long and detailed, but provides vast information of Captain James Cook and his voyages that added to our knowledge of geography, oceanography, biology, astronomy, navigation, health, and humanity. I recomend everyone old and young, of every ethnic background to read this book. In the end, the reader sees that it wasn't his accomplisments that made him famous, but his awesome moral beliefs of modesty, chastity, temperence, faithfulness, steadfastness, truth, honesty, loyalty, discilpline, and passion that define the very finest example of how to live as a human being.

A Trying, but Rewarding, Read
There is no doubt that this is the definitive biography of the renowned Captain Cook.For no other reason, persons with an interest in the greatest navigator of all time should read this work.While few details of his life outside of his three major expeditions have been retained, this book brings to life the Captain that sailed the world on his three voyages, including his personality, his foibles, his leadership, and his intellect.He was indeed a man with many admirable qualities.

So why only three stars?While the book is well researched and well organized, it is not well written.Far too often, a jumble of words is presented as a substitute for a sentence.If Beaglehole could write clearly, this would certainly be a 5 star work.On the other hand, sadly enough, a clear writing style has not always been the hallmark of a professional historian.

Definitive Biography of Cook
New Zealand historian J. C. Beaglehole was perhaps the 20th century's foremost authority on European exploration in the Pacific.The main results of his long and distinguished career were "Exploration of the Pacific" and "Life of Captain James Cook". In preparation for writing the Life, he produced the definitive modern editions of the Journals of Captain Cook (4 volumes) and the Endeavour Journals of Jospeh Banks (2 volumes).
An understanding of Cook and the voyages must begin with Beaglehole.

Brilliant, comprehensive, scholarly defense of Cook.
This is a tome which occassionally tells you just a little more than you really want to know about the three great voyages to the Pacific, but anyone seriously interested in the western penetration into the Pacific will want to read this book. It is also an articulate and formidable defense of Cook's character, seamanship, and wisdom. While Cook is not quite so venerable now in a time of great sensitivity to the depradations western invasion inflicted on indiginous people, this book presents us with an undoubtedly great man interested not in conquest but in geography, exploration, discovery, science, anthropology and peaceful relations between cultures. The aftermath was a tragedy,(see Alan Moorehead's The Fatal Impact) but Cook was simply too high-minded and short-sighted to forsee what would come after. Cook was for better and worse a man of his time--and it was an age of enlightenment--an exemplar of the period of science, exploration and adventure. He was of course a cold fish and hard to cosy to, but there is much to admire in this brilliant portrait of the man and his age.

The most comprehensive Cook biography to date
The Life of Captain James Cook by Beaglehole is the book that I have been searching for a long time. For some reason, one of the greatest explorers and navigators in history never had a comprehensive biography written on.In a very short series of partial accounts, Beaglehole's book stands out asthe most comprehensive biography ever written about cook. It is apparentthat Beaglehole spend several years in researching, and the result isadmireable in its depth and capacity. Although the book is sometimes hardto read, beacuse of the many details, it is still worth going through. Manyunknown facts about Cook are being revealed, which throw a whole newperspective about his life .The author also did a good job in recreatingthe atmosphere of the life on an explotation ship, and putting Cook'sexplorations in the historical context. For lighter reading, I guess thatRichard Hough's book is easier to read, but if you want the whole story,this is the book to read. ... Read more