Fast-moving and fascinating account of Captain Cook's three around-the-world voyages, culminating in his death at the hands of Hawaiian peoples who apparently mistook him for a god based on his ill-timed arrival and departure schedule.

The concept of leaving on just one 3-year trip in uncharted lands so far from home and family and communication with them seems even more astounding and heroic today in the age of always available, always on communication. Of course, Cook and his crew weren't always heroes, displaying at times the reflexive racism and cultural arrogance of the age of Empire that spawned the exploration in the first place. However, it is interesting to watch Cook's attitudes change and mature during the voyages.

You may want to cross-reference to Tony Horwitz' Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before which I also reviewed. Horwitz applies his witty and accessible style to a popular cultural, anthropological, historical, and gastronomical view of Cook's travel stops and his impact on them.

This book covered Cook's 3 voyages into the Pacific. Cook's drive to explore new lands and interact with the people that he met along the way was fascinating. This book did not try to judge the actions of Cook and his crew, but rather chronicled the good and the bad, describing the various attitudes of several of the crew members as taken from their diaries and accounts of the voyages.

This is an anthropologically informed history of James Cook's three voyages to the Pacific. If you are looking for a biography of James Cook, a general history of Cook's voyages, or a maritime history, this book is not for you.

The anthropological approach seems perfectly suited to these voyages since they included a number of first contacts between Polynesian and European civilization. In some cases, especially in his discussion of the artwork and the scientific approaches of 18th century Europeans in confronting Polynesia, Thomas is engaging. However.....

As some other reviewers have noted, there is an air of anachronistic academic disdain that permeates the narrative and distracts the reader from engaging the subject. I'm not quite sure what Thomas's point is in much of the contempt he has for his subject. For example, he will deride Cook et al. for misinterpreting a certain aspect of Polynesian society, and tisk at the ignorance and cultural insensitivity that supposedly malinformed this misinterpretation. After all this, you'd think he'd supply better interpretations, right? Well, sometimes yes, with all the arrogance that 250 years of hindsight will buck you up with. Yet strangely, quite a bit of this book is devoted to his own guesses and speculating about Polynesian society. Perhaps these guesses are informed by that 250 extra years of scholarship, but they are often poorly argued and unconvincing.

Read a more standard history of Cook before you read this, and then be prepared to wade through quite a bit of the ideological sludge that sullies some interesting material.

Fewer things are better than a good sea story dealing with unexplored regions of the world. Captain James Cook's British Naval expeditions in the late 1700's were some of the last expeditions to the unexplored parts of the world. For introducing the subject and telling a good story, Thomas does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the inherent problems in leading a naval and scientific expedition and first contact with Pacific Islanders.



In many ways, today's outer space missions are less complicated than Cook's expeditions.



The anthropology sections of this book are the weakest sections, but there are simply few ways to understand the native Pacific islanders of Hawaii and Polynesia and the Maori peoples of New Zealand and Aborigines of Australia.



Cook's legacy is somewhat mixed in the Pacific basin, though to his credit, he handled first contact issues as well as he probably could. His death that resulted from an altercation with some Hawaiian tribe members was a bit of a tragedy, for few of his generation had as much patience in dealing with the inherent issues of Western and native interaction.



For the reader wanting a solid introduction to one of history's greatest explorers and one of the greatest sea stories, this is a worthwhile book.

Fewer things are better than a good sea story dealing with unexplored regions of the world. Captain James Cook's British Naval expeditions in the late 1700's were some of the last expeditions to the unexplored parts of the world. For introducing the subject and telling a good story, Thomas does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the inherent problems in leading a naval and scientific expedition and first contact with Pacific Islanders.

In many ways, today's outer space missions are less complicated than Cook's expeditions.

The anthropology sections of this book are the weakest sections, but there are simply few ways to understand the native Pacific islanders of Hawaii and Polynesia and the Maori peoples of New Zealand and Aborigines of Australia.

Cook's legacy is somewhat mixed in the Pacific basin, though to his credit, he handled first contact issues as well as he probably could. His death that resulted from an altercation with some Hawaiian tribe members was a bit of a tragedy, for few of his generation had as much patience in dealing with the inherent issues of Western and native interaction.

For the reader wanting a solid introduction to one of history's greatest explorers and one of the greatest sea stories, this is a worthwhile book.

Before reading this book, most of what I knew about Captain Cook was from high school (not much) and from a vacation or two in Hawaii complete with visits to historic sites. I saw it at the library and checked it out because I am enrolled in a "Pacific Islanders in the U.S." course at my local junior college, and because I'm planning another vacation in Hawaii and want to feel more grounded in the history of the place while I'm there.
I thought the book was great. It really cut through a lot of the mythology that surrounds what most of us are taught about Cook, to the real person, with failings as well as strengths. What I loved was I felt I got both perspectives, Cook's as well as the point of view of the People he encountered on the islands. One thing I got from the book is that Cook missed a lot. His journal records his perspective, but as well-meaning as it might be, that perspective was narrow and often limited by his own background. The island kingdoms he encountered, in Tonga, Hawaii and others were politically complex, and socially and culturally rich. Power plays were being made, not only by Cook, but by the People on the beach. I thought the presentation was balanced, and fascinating, and I am grateful for having read a book that allows me to think about this moment in history, and the islands themselves, in a broader way.

Before reading this book, most of what I knew about Captain Cook was from high school (not much) and from a vacation or two in Hawaii complete with visits to historic sites. I saw it at the library and checked it out because I am enrolled in a "Pacific Islanders in the U.S." course at my local junior college, and because I'm planning another vacation in Hawaii and want to feel more grounded in the history of the place while I'm there.
I thought the book was great. It really cut through a lot of the mythology that surrounds what most of us are taught about Cook, to the real person, with failings as well as strengths. What I loved was I felt I got both perspectives, Cook's as well as the point of view of the People he encountered on the islands. One thing I got from the book is that Cook missed a lot. His journal records his perspective, but as well-meaning as it might be, that perspective was narrow and often limited by his own background. The island kingdoms he encountered, in Tonga, Hawaii and others were politically complex, and socially and culturally rich. Power plays were being made, not only by Cook, but by the People on the beach. I thought the presentation was balanced, and fascinating, and I am grateful for having read a book that allows me to think about this moment in history, and the islands themselves, in a broader way.

The history, anthropology and sociology presented are well written at least 90% of the time. At other times the writer seems to get bogged down in making hindsighted judgments about certain situations and injects quite a bit of his personal thoughts... but hey it's his book and it's not sold as being a dry history book. It is all about Cook and the impact his expeditions had on the local islanders.

I would have rated the book higher had it not been for some very poor word choices that caught me off guard (read "profanity"). Including the fairly random use of the "F" word at one point in the book, which really seemed out of place and truly bizarre.

The history, anthropology and sociology presented are well written at least 90% of the time. At other times the writer seems to get bogged down in making hindsighted judgments about certain situations and injects quite a bit of his personal thoughts... but hey it's his book and it's not sold as being a dry history book. It is all about Cook and the impact his expeditions had on the local islanders.

I would have rated the book higher had it not been for some very poor word choices that caught me off guard (read "profanity"). Including the fairly random use of the "F" word at one point in the book, which really seemed out of place and truly bizarre.

Unlike other accounts, this book doesnt start with Cook's heritage, but rather dives straight into Cooks voyages. Although his heritage plays significant roles in his decision making process, there is no need to waste pages. Instead the book recounts a remarkable journey that makes for simple yet eloquent reading. Accounts of European contact with Polynesian natives are griping and wildly descriptive. While university professors in Hawaii tend to blast Cook, most of them are informed by mostly biased sources. Here, the story remains unbiased and allows the reader to see Cook for who he really was: an amazing navigator, an amateur anthropologist, a steady diplomat, and a supurb leader among men. The heinous actions Cook committed has been expressed at face value by Hawaiian instructors, but Thomas goes into the whys rather than the whats. This is an excellent book on leadership as well.

Unlike other accounts, this book doesnt start with Cook's heritage, but rather dives straight into Cooks voyages. Although his heritage plays significant roles in his decision making process, there is no need to waste pages. Instead the book recounts a remarkable journey that makes for simple yet eloquent reading. Accounts of European contact with Polynesian natives are griping and wildly descriptive. While university professors in Hawaii tend to blast Cook, most of them are informed by mostly biased sources. Here, the story remains unbiased and allows the reader to see Cook for who he really was: an amazing navigator, an amateur anthropologist, a steady diplomat, and a supurb leader among men. The heinous actions Cook committed has been expressed at face value by Hawaiian instructors, but Thomas goes into the whys rather than the whats. This is an excellent book on leadership as well.

I am not sure that the reviewers who complained about the "political correctness" of this title actually read the same book that I did. Nicholas Thomas presents an interesting, thoroughly researched, and balanced account of Cook's three voyages. Rather than depicting Cook as a malicious abuser of native societies, I was surprised to find that Cook was remarkably understanding, for his time, of cultural differences. The account of Cook's death in Hawaii (I trust I am not giving anything away), which to some extent was provoked by an unfortunate coincidence having to do with the native religion, was particularly fascinating.

My one quibble with the book, for which I deduct "one star", is with the style: first person asides, gratuitous use of the "F-word", and a sprinkling of contractions (e.g., "I'm", "they're"--this is a book, for heaven's sake, not a post-it note!). It is too bad that an otherwise excellent and scholarly work was marred by inelegant language.

Not the book to buy if you have any degree of admiration for the exploits of Captain Cook. A ready Australian chippiness pervades this anthropological work that seems to present Cook, Banks et al. as insensitive British blunderers impinging disastrously upon the noble savages they meet upon their voyages. An impressive knowledge of the cultures encountered on the voyages is offset by a surprising degree of ignorance about naval procedures coupled with jarring first person interventions and social speculation more appropriate to a Mills & Boon novelette. Throughout, judgements (of which there are many) are presented from the perspective of a 21st century anthropologist. Poor Cook he really should have more of a "New Labour" man - inclusiveness, social diversity, racial awareness should have been his watchwords. But then, endowed with such sensitivity, would he have ever have left Ushant on his port bow?

Nicholas Thomas's vivid, interesting and anthropologically focused book is clearly not a biography of Captain James Cook. I found this a surprise, but as Thomas says in his rather obtuse 40-page introduction we meet up with Cook on these pages already 39 years old. He is about to take the first of his three voyages to the Pacific. The last ends tragically with his death at the hands of the Pacific People he both appear to admire and study. He even forgave them their reported cannibalism when they ate a number of his sister ships crew.

One would like to ask the American publisher (Walker) why they felt the need to change the books title from it's English edition title, "Discoveries: The Voyages of Captain James Cook" to COOK and then add "extraordinary" (although extraordinary they assuredly were). The English title is more apt in conveying Thomas's narrative achievement. For his volume is a compelling overall review and analysis of Cook's discoveries.

Thomas, an anthropology professor uses all available sources to view events from both sides of the beach as he studies, in part, the pacific people's reaction to being visited. Cultural differences and social relationships, even those among the crew and between Cook and the onboard "scientists" are the primary focus of the book. There is very little, if any, discussion of what it was like to live on the ships, and the sailing of them. Or for that matter what drove Cook to do what he did. Although Thomas does take issue with other authors that seem to make an issue of Cook's motive or psychological state. Perhaps making him much more complex than he really was.

Thomas's achievement is that he has expanded his narrative beyond the stoic Captain Cook. For example the first part of the book seems to be more about Joseph Banks, the voyages "scientist". And later by his replacement in the second voyage, George Foster. The roll played by art and the romantic images of William Hodges and Jack Weber. (One needs note that Thomas's narrative on their paintings is often accompanied by the actual drawing on the same page as the text. The book is very finely published and also includes very excellent maps.)

I found it interesting that Thomas ends his book bring the reader to the modern reenacting of Cook's visit to Cooks Town in Australia. The site he had reached to repair his ship after almost being lost on the Barrier Reef. This event is also very humorously dealt with in Tony Horwitz's fabulously entertaining "Blue Latitudes: Boldly going where Captian Cook has gone before" which is a great companion read to learn how the islands are today some 235 years after Cooks landings.

It took me a while to get into this COOK, but eventually I really enjoyed this journey with Captain Cook and those we meet via Nicholas Thomas honest research.

The author does a fine job taking us through the three voyages of Cook -- bringing in quotes and material from the journals of the Captain and other participants. It is an easy read. But, the author repeatedly interject "holier than thou" judgements on Cook and the crew. I was repeatedly annoyed with the author's personal opinions and hindsight judgements -- in fact, at times I wanted to bonk the Thomas on the head for being so arrogant.

Despite its promising title, this book contains very little historical information about Cook's voyages. Rather, it's a series of vignettes about the supposedly malicious Captain Cook's evil abuse of native peoples. Since the native people encountered by Cook had no written language, they are fortunate that Nicholas Thomas, more than 200 years later, has arrived to invent their points of view. For each encounter, Thomas mentions the historical evidence, discards it, and creates his preferred scenario instead. If you want the truth, look elsewhere.

Nicholas Thomas' Cook is no light coverage of historical hightligts, but a seriously informed and informative biographical recounting of the famous ocean voyageur of the 1700s. This is an in-depth result of twenty years' of meticulous research into Pacific history, culture and art. Captain Cook's voyages were to re-defined the known shape of the globe and introduced Europe to new peoples, new animals, and formerly unknown geographical boundaries. Thomas' Cook provides a new generaton of readers with both the positive aspects of Captain Cook's discoveries and the negatives surrounding his impact on native peoples he encountered in the name of king and country.

I bought this book based on the recommendations here; unfortunately I have to say it's been a disappointment, and I feel compelled to write my own review too. While the book is obviously well researched and rich in details, the author interferes too much in the narrative -- I am frankly not very interested in Nicholas Thomas' personal relationship with Cook and Australian history. He claims in the introduction that he wants to stay away from the hero and anti-hero biases, but the whole book is very judgmental of Cook and his crew. In trying to be politically correct in 21st-century terms, the author fails to capture the 18th-century spirit of the voyages. Indeed, he paints a dark, boring picture of Cook that doesn't coincide with the exciting contemporary reception the navigator had in the second half of the 18th century. The style is poor, with long, convoluted sentences that take re-reading to decypher. Most annoyingly, there are several typos of foreign words, which I find unacceptable for a book published by a major publisher -- it shows a lack of attention to detail. I wish I could recommend another Cook biography, but I simply don't know. I can, however, highly praise Diana Preston's newly published biography of William Dampier, _A Pirate of Exquisite Mind_ for those interested in European navigators.

This is a highly absorbing account of the three voyages of Captain Cook. The author has done a very commendable job of describing all the people, places, and cultures that Cook and his crew encountered. His descriptions of the populations indigenous to the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Austrailia, the Pacific Northwest, etc., and of the geography of these places are well researched and fascinating. The interplay of cultures between the British explorers and those they encountered is emphasized with great effect. The personalities and motivations of the key figures, including Cook, are brought to life as well. The account of the voyages reads like an adventure story, while simultaneously being based on very solid research. Included are a number of excellent maps and a large number of excellent illustrations, primarily of paintings and sketches done by artists who accompanied Cook. Very highly recommended.

I was hoping for a detailed description of the voyages, such as life aboard ship, weather conditions, British naval customs, etc. Instead, you get an analysis of the sociological implications of culture clash between the British and the natives, with much political correctness and rank speculation thrown in.

Howard Zinn's style of revisionist history is alive and well.

Nicholas Thomas has pulled off a rare achievement writing a book that will appeal to both those already quite familiar with Cook's three voyages and those looking for an introduction to his journeys.
This is not the classic biographical study of man replete with details about his family and early years. Indeed Thomas barely gives passing reference to Cook's background. The focus instead is not on who Cook was, but what he did.
Cook's 18th century expeditions made him among the first Europeans to explore such exotic locales as New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii (to name but a few). There he chartered islands, collected specimens and had many and various encounters with natives. Unlike those who had gone before, Cook paid the natives lengthy visits, allowing time to establish understanding and communication.
The historians� perspective has shifted in recent years to view European explorers of Cook�s time as racist conquerors, given the consequences to indigenous peoples, this view has much merit. However Cook, like some of his contemporaries did not stoop to conquer, nor did he dismiss all people of color as savages. Cook would not hesitate to use force against natives who stole from his ships, but he also expressed admiration for many tribes and envied their happiness. He might even side with them over his own men when disputes arose. It is the fascinating meetings of cultures that make this time period, these types of voyages and Thomas' book so compelling. Cook's experiences, like many others in the years before exploration turned to conquest, were varied. Those that went badly could have tragic consequences, such as the one which claimed Cook's life. Thomas is to be lauded for presenting these meetings in what is at once a detailed and engaging manner.
My only quibble with Thomas' book is the over dependence on quotes from Cook's journals. How indispensable to historians that Cook (and others on his voyages) left such comprehensive journals. What a treat to read some of Cook's own words. But too often the narrative is bogged down by the author's decision to quote liberally, often paragraphs at a time, from the journals. Sometimes telling not showing is preferable.
That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I do not feel that I truly understand Cook, but much more importantly, I do feel that I understand what he did.

As a member of the Captain Cook Society (www.captaincooksociety.com) I was asked to review Nicolas Thomas's new book on Captain Cook and his voyages. I found it very interesting indeed.
Thomas is Professor of Anthropology at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and it is the interaction of people with which he is concerned in this book, the interaction between Cook and his crew (including the artists) and the indigenous people they encountered on the voyages. As Thomas explains in his introduction Cook's ". . . life is my lens, for a new look at these formative encounters" with other cultures. Thomas is not so much repeating the well known story of Cook and his exploration; rather he is examining the voyages from an anthropologist's viewpoint, being more concerned with the interaction of new cultures and people, than with the technological, geographical and navigational aspects.
Too often, when you read a biography of a long dead person, it is all too easy to keep in your mind the knowledge of what happens next. Most biographies start with the birth and end with the death. Thomas's book is slightly different in that immediately the reader is catapulted into the year 1767 and the preparations of the first voyage. As the name of the book implies, it is the voyages which tell the story; Cook's childhood and early career serve only as material which the reader is filled in on briefly, to explain how Cook got to be in charge of the Endeavour. Thomas tries to write without the benefit of hindsight, which to a large degree I believe he succeeds in.
I approached this book with anticipation but wondering why, and how, another book could be written on Cook, when there have been so many published beforehand. However, I feel Thomas adds something to the debate surrounding Cook's life as he reviews some of the aspects and events which I thought were set in stone and give them fresh consideration. After Cook's death, he was for a long time regarded as someone who had done no wrong. In recent years this opinion has been reversed, with the third voyage viewed as a trip during which Cook's mental decline is demonstrated.
Thomas considers these differing views and gives it what I consider to be an interesting summarisation. For example, "Cook's third voyage has often been seen as one marked by the growing, indeed the enveloping fatigue of the great navigator. It is supposed that Cook suffered lapses in his abilities, curiosity and decisiveness; more antagonistic commentators claim that he became detached, irrational, and violent. It is not hard to understand why the tale has been told in these terms: we like it when a great character's life exhibits a rise and fall, and may perhaps be seduced by the notion that a colonizer might collapse, like Conrad's Kurtz, into some black hole of his own evil. But Cook's voyages do not exhibit any such trend. Some of the worst violence occurred in New Zealand as early as 1769, when the man was supposedly saner. And the third voyage is marked by ups and downs, not by any sort of downward spiral." (p.376)
Cook's death is also treated in this way, with Thomas stating previous views and dismissing them; "It has been argued that something in Cook snapped, prompting him to shoot, and this led to his death. But there was nothing perverse or anomalous in his behaviour on the morning of 14 February 1779. He had fired, sometimes with small shot, and sometimes with ball, during both his first and second voyages." (p.396)
One assumes academics will produce good books but that you need a dictionary beside you! It was refreshing to read a book which was written by a normal person! Yes, it was clear that the author was an academic but it was an easy and enjoyable book to read. I have only two minor complaints; first, it would have been nice to have had some of the paintings reproduced in colour as the descriptions are so multi-coloured. And secondly, I wish someone would invent a way of snuggling up to a hardback book in bed!

This wonderful book covers the three voyages of Captain Cook and his exploration of the Pacific Ocean. Cook's first voyage explored the islands of the pacific. His second voyage tried to find `the southern continent' Antarctica. The third voyage explored the North pacific and ended with the death of Captain Cook at the hands of the natives of a pacific Island.

Cook was responsible for mapping much of the pacific ocean and its many islands. His voyage was the first to sketch the giant stone sculptures of Easter Island(Rapa Nui). He circled New Zealand, mapped parts of Australia, explored the Bering straight, kidnapped Polynesian Chiefs on islands like Tahiti and tried, in vain, to discover Antarctica(all he found was a sheet of ice but not land). Cook was a giant in his own time. He dealt with many powerful native tribes and his men catalogued the lives of these native peoples long before they were spoiled by colonization and western ways. This book is full more then fifty sketches of the tribes he encountered and the items he saw.

This is simply a wonderful accurate and thoroughly researched account of Captain Cook and his voyages and contributions. Anyone interested in Polynesia, exploration or the sea will find this account fascinating.