It was a total coincidence that I read this book so close to the book on Shackleton exploring Antarctica in the early 1900’s. These two events are separated by 130 years, and it was fun to see what the differences were between the two.
This book describes the third (and final) expedition of James Cook during an age of exploration – the world was yet to be mapped and there were still big blank areas out there. It is hard to imagine what life might have been like when you didn’t know what was across the sea. Cook’s voyage made first contact with several native peoples, and he carried out the goofy imperialistic ceremonies to claim these people and their land as property of the British Crown.
The examination of imperialism and native issues is nicely handled, and the author seemed to have done his research to get a native perspective where possible. He even pokes fun at the British crew of long ago – how they reported (again and again) the sexual prowess of the native women of Tahiti and Hawaii – by noting that there was no evidence of similar comments regarding the British sailors’ prowess passed down through history.
While telling the story I sometimes got the feeling that the author wasn’t entirely neutral in this, so I think it is important (as with any history book) to read this with a grain or two of salt. The book was quite long and described the journey in detail – some might think it was overlong but I liked this aspect.
Two extra things I got from this book – learning about an American on board who was impressed into the British marines. John Ledyard spent three years on this voyage, and once it was over:
“…he embarked on a trek of more than six thousand miles, mostly on foot, across Europe and Russia in an attempt to reach Alaska, but he was arrested in Siberia under orders from Catherine the Great. Ledyard died in Cairo in 1788, aged thirty-seven, while preparing an expedition to search for the source of the Niger River.”
It seemed like there was a lot of exploration going on at the time and that some people just lived on a grander scale.
The second extra thing I enjoyed was the artwork that was included – sketches and paintings by members of the voyage that showed these far off destinations to readers back in England. The style and detail were especially captivating for me.
Probably the best thing about this book was that I read it in ignorance of the result of the expedition. Either I didn’t know or forgot what happened during this historical voyage, and thanks to my cluelessness the book was that much better.
Next I am reading The God of the Woods by Liz Moore.
