From Powells.com
When in 1768 Captain James Cook set off on his first circumnavigation, "roughly
a third of the world's map remained blank," Horwitz writes. Cook would
sail more than 200,000 miles in his career, from the Arctic to the Antarctic,
from Easter Island to Indonesia. Over the course of three great voyages,
he not only mapped those vast, unknown lands with astounding precision (Horwitz
notes that some of Cook's charts stayed in use until the 1990s), he also
introduced the West to the lifestyles and customs of countless unimaginable,
distant cultures. In Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook
Has Gone Before, Horwitz traces Captain Cook's path around the globe,
exploring how the lands he visited have changed, for better and too
often for worse, since Cook's landing. With his trademark blend of
hilarity and insight, Horwitz brings us the life and legacy of one of history's
preeminent explorers. Nathaniel Philbrick cheered, "Blue Latitudes
is a rollicking read that is also a sneaky work of scholarship, providing
new and unexpected insights into the man who out-discovered Columbus." Dave, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"
Blue Latitudes is a rollicking read that is also a sneaky work of scholarship, providing new and unexpected insights into the man who out-discovered Columbus. A terrific book--I inhaled it in one weekend." --Nathaniel Philbrick, author of
In the Heart of the Sea
Review
"Thoroughly enjoyable. No writer has better captured the heroic enigma that was Captain James Cook than Tony Horwitz in this amiable and enthralling excursion around the Pacific." --Bill Bryson, author of
In a Sunburned Country"Tony Horwitz's Blue Latitudes is one of the best. . . full of humor. . . an elegant running account of Cook's exploits."
--The New York Times Book Review (cover review)
"Part history, part travelogue--and mostly just great fun. . . This is history on a global scale, and Horwitz tells it surpassingly well."
--Los Angeles Times
"A tour de force of evocative history, serious scholarship, and compelling writing."
--The Washington Post
"Part Cook biography, part travelogue, and very much a stroke of genius." --The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Hilarious, brainy, and balanced. . . .A trip with Horwitz is as good as it gets."
--The Charlotte Observer
"Tony Horwitz has done it again. . . Keen insight, open-mindedness and laugh-out-loud humor."
--San Francisco Chronicle
"A staggering blend of historical research, character study, sociological analysis, and intriguing tales of travel." --The Boston Globe
"Curiosity, intelligence, compassion and a sense of adventure. . . I love reading Tony Horwitz."
--Chicago Tribune
"Horwitz succeeds brilliantly in turning the English from stiff icons to flesh-and-blood human beings. The book's constant humor, honesty and judgment recall his own Confederates in the Attic and Bill Brysons A Walk in the Woods.. . . This book will keep you enthralled."
--The Seattle Time
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 453-459) and index.
Synopsis
Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone BeforeTwo centuries after James Cook's epic voyages of discovery, Tony Horwitz takes readers on a wild ride across hemispheres and centuries to recapture the Captains adventures and explore his embattled legacy in todays Pacific. Horwitz, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of Confederates in the Attic, works as a sailor aboard a replica of Cooks ship, meets island kings and beauty queens, and carouses the South Seas with a hilarious and disgraceful travel companion, an Aussie named Roger. He also creates a brilliant portrait of Cook: an impoverished farmboy who became the greatest navigator in British history and forever changed the lands he touched. Poignant, probing, antic, and exhilarating, Blue Latitudes brings to life a man who helped create the global village we inhabit today.
Synopsis
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.
About the Author
Tony Horwitz is the bestselling author of Midnight Rising, A Voyage Long and Strange, Blue Latitudes, Confederates in the Attic, and Baghdad Without a Map. He is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has worked for The Wall Street Journal and The New Yorker. He lives in Martha's Vineyard with his wife, Geraldine Brooks, and their two sons.