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Author: Tony Horwitz
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
impoverished Yorkshire farm boy who grew
up to draw 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.
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: a man 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.
$26.00 (hardcover)
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