"An epic account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration which culminated in
Captain James Cook's death in Hawaii and left a complex and controversial legacy still debated
to this day ... 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 Hawaii 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' bravura 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. Cook was
renowned for his peerless seamanship his humane leadership and his dedication to science--the
famed naturalist Joseph Banks accompanied him on his first voyage and Cook has been called one
of the most important figures of the Age of Enlightenment. He was also deeply interested in the
native people he encountered. In fact his stated mission was to return a Tahitian man Mai
who had become the toast of London to his home islands. On previous expeditions Cook mapped
huge swaths of the Pacific including the east coast of Australia and initiated first European
contact with numerous peoples. He treated his crew well and endeavored to learn about the
societies he encountered with curiosity and without judgment. Yet something was different on
this last voyage. Cook became mercurial resorting to the lash to enforce discipline and led
his two vessels into danger time and again. Uncharacteristically he ordered violent
retaliation for perceived theft on the part of native peoples. This may have had something to
do with his secret orders which were to chart and claim lands before Britain's imperial rivals
could and to discover the fabled Northwest Passage. Whatever Cook's intentions his scientific
efforts were the sharp edge of the colonial sword and the ultimate effects of first contact
were catastrophic for Indigenous people around the world. The tensions between Cook's overt and
covert missions came to a head on the shores of Hawaii. His first landing there was harmonious
but when Cook returned after mapping the coast of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska his
exploitative treatment of the Hawaiians led to the fatal encounter"--
