The wide wide sea : imperial ambition, first contact and the fateful final voyage of Captain James Cook

Sides, Hampton, author.

First edition.

Book

New York : Doubleday, [2024]

©2024

xxi, 408 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm

"On July 12th, 1776, Captain James Cook, already lionized as the greatest explorer in British history, set off on his third voyage in his ship the HMS Resolution. Two and a half years later, on a beach on the island of Hawai'i, Cook was killed in a conflict with native Hawaiians. How did Cook, who was unique among captains for his respect for Indigenous peoples and cultures, come to that fatal moment? Hampton Sides' ... account of Cook's last journey both wrestles with Cook's legacy and provides a thrilling narrative of the titanic efforts and continual danger that characterized exploration in the 1700s"-- Provided by publisher.

Cook, James, 1728-1779 -- Travel.

Cook, James, 1728-1779 -- Death and burial.

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

Scientific expeditions -- History -- 18th century.

Pacific Area -- Discovery and exploration -- British.

Oceania -- Discovery and exploration -- British.

Pacific Coast (North America) -- Discovery and exploration -- British.

Northwest Passage -- Discovery and exploration -- British.

Northeast Passage -- Discovery and exploration -- British.

Arctic regions -- Discovery and exploration -- British.

Prologue: And louder grew the shouting -- Book one: The first navigator of Europe. Negative discoverer ; Proto-anthropologist ; A human pet ; A fine retreat ; A natural politeness ; The problem of the ice ; No tutor but nature ; Fresh discoveries ; The secret instructions -- Book two: The weight of my resentment. Isla del Infierno ; Tavern of the seas ; The isle of desolation ; Lunawanna-alonnah ; A shocking scene of carnage ; The land of the long white cloud ; Return to grass cove -- Book three: Faraway heaven. Aphrodite's island ; This barbarous custom ; Duped by every designing knave ; A kingdom for a goat ; The ardor of inviolable friendship ; Faraway heaven ; Scorched up by the heat of the sun ; A new race of people ; In the land of the Menehune -- Book four: New Albion. Foul weather ; Soft gold ; In Bering's wake ; Deep water and bold shores ; Possessed ; Risen in a new world ; Big with every danger -- Book five: Apotheosis. Pathway of the Gods ; Approaching adoration ; Golden days ; A welcome overstayed ; The water's edge ; The bones of Captain Cook ; The long concealed arrangements of the Almighty -- Epilogue: Lono's tears.

9780385544764