Define Books Toward Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
Original Title: | Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before |
ISBN: | 0312422601 (ISBN13: 9780312422608) |
Edition Language: | English |
Characters: | James Cook |
Tony Horwitz
Paperback | Pages: 480 pages Rating: 4 | 8879 Users | 625 Reviews
Explanation Supposing Books Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
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 Captain's adventures and explore his embattled legacy in today's Pacific. Horwitz, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of Confederates in the Attic, works as a sailor aboard a replica of Cook's 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.Identify Of Books Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
Title | : | Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before |
Author | : | Tony Horwitz |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | First Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 480 pages |
Published | : | August 1st 2003 by Picador USA (first published October 1st 2002) |
Categories | : | Travel. History. Nonfiction. Biography. Adventure |
Rating Of Books Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
Ratings: 4 From 8879 Users | 625 ReviewsWrite-Up Of Books Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
I was very saddened to hear about Tony Horwitz's sudden death last year, but at least I still have a few more of his lively, funny, and interesting books to look forward to reading. Blue Latitudes, written in 2002, is an entertaining mix of history and travel journalism, in which Horwitz visits many of the farflung locales "discovered" by Captain Cook during his three journeys of exploration to the Pacific Ocean in the 18th century. Horwitz alternates between chapters in which he gives us aIn Blue Latitudes journalist Tony Horwitz follows in the footsteps of Captain Cook, beginning with a week working as a member of the crew on board a replica of Cooks ship Endeavor. Id always thought of Cook as this stereotypical British officer, all his buttons properly polished and looking down a very long nose at all these dreadful loincloth-clad natives. In fact, Cook was born in a pigsty, was subject in his youth to a strong Quaker influence, and worked his way up from shoveling coal to
Over 440 pages, the American author follows in Cooks footsteps, recounting the captains exploits every step of the way. He meets British admirers of Cook, Maoris who excoriate the man as a murderous syphilitic invader, Australians who are ignorant of his exploits, and Pacific Islanders who accept him as part of their history. He interviews the king of Tongo, sails on a replica of Cooks ship The Endeavor, and drops in on remote Inuit fishing villages. Trying to get at the heart of Cook, Horwitz
Those who would go to sea for pleasure would go to hell for pastime 18th century aphorismIf I were someone who believed in reincarnation, I would have to entertain the notion that I must have been a sea captain in a previous life. Why else would I be so fascinated by the lives of the men who set sail on voyages of discovery, risking all to find lost continents, the fabled Northwest passage, or the elusive terra australis? And why else would I be so enamored of the sea and so terrified by it, in
Blue Latitudes is half history and half travelog as author Tony Horwitz travels the world in the footsteps of Captain Cook. Horwitz is a great writer and I really enjoyed the way he cut back and forth between the historical details of Cook's travels and his own modern day travels investigating Cook's legacy. The balance was well struck and both stories were interesting, though the history was perhaps a little more interesting.Horwitz is also a funny writer with a knack for finding colorful
This is a 4 Star readhad to take one star away. But such a good book about a man I knew little about (I always wondered where the Sandwich Islands came from, learned about it here). Lots of laughs and lots of thoughtful commentary interspersed with the history of Cooks three voyages to the Pacific. Horwitz gives you the enjoyable travelogue of a Bill Bryson with almost none of the left-wing snark. Horwitz and his buddy Roger follow, as best they can, Cooks journeys and visit many of the islands.
Very interesting and so well written. The author, Tony Horwitz, decides to follow the course of Captain James Cook, the great English explorer of the 19th century, as he travelled the Pacific on three epic voyages "discovering" many unique places that had never been visited by Europeans. Horwitz tells of his own adventures with a fine sense of humor, made all the more delightful by his traveling companion, a mostly-soused Englishman who lives in Australia and loves to sail. The author did his
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