Blue Track (Following Captain Cook's Journey)

Author: Tony Horwitz (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: "Blue Trail" is extremely readable. No other author has captured the intoxicating and enchanting journey around the Pacific as Tony Horwitz has in his pursuit of the mysterious enigmas of James Cook. Horwitz's adventures not only provide an insightful understanding of the great navigator Captain Cook himself but also of his courageous companions in the 18th century, including the notable Sir Joseph Banks. The vivid, clear, and highly engaging descriptions in "Blue Trail" reveal a truth: the vast world, the path of exploration is endless. This is an academic work that can be read with ease, revealing an inner world that no explorer who ventured and explored more than Columbus ever revealed. James Cook's three epic voyages were a great adventure of the 18th century and beyond. When he set out on his expedition in 1768, one-third of the Earth's surface remained unexplored and blank. By 1779, when he died a violent death in Hawaii, the world map had become largely complete. It can be said that no one in human history has surpassed Cook's vast exploration of the Earth's surface. His trails ranged from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from Tahiti to Siberia, from Easter Island to the Great Barrier Reef, revealing exotic customs to the Western world, such as religious taboos, tattoos, cannibalism, and ritualized sexual life. This son of a farmer, through personal struggle, ultimately became a great British navigator in a rigidly hierarchical class society. At the same time, the mysteries he left behind to this day are as enigmatic as the uncharted waters he explored over two centuries ago.