Blue track: Pursuing Captain Cook's journey

Author: (USA) Tony Horowitz
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: "Blue Trails" is extremely readable, and no other author has captured the intoxicating and enchanting journey around the Pacific as Tony Horowitz has in his pursuit of the mysterious enigmas of James Cook. Horowitz's adventures not only provide an insightful understanding of the great navigator Captain Cook himself but also of his brave companions in the 18th century, including the notable Sir Joseph Banks. The vivid, clear, and highly engaging descriptions in "Blue Trails" reveal a truth: the vast and boundless world, the path of exploration is endless. It is an academic work that can be read with ease, revealing an inner world that an explorer who ventured and explored more than Columbus never revealed. James Cook's three epic voyages were great explorations 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, but by 1779, when he died a tragic death in Hawaii, the world map had become largely complete. It can be said that the extent of Cook's exploration of the Earth's surface in human history has yet to be surpassed. His trails spanned from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from Tahiti to Siberia, from Easter Island to the Great Barrier Reef, revealing to the Western world exotic customs such as religious taboos, tattoos, cannibalism, and ritualized sexual life. This farm boy, 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. This book records the historical and geographical knowledge, cultural landscapes, and local customs from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from Tahiti to Siberia, as the author travels along the exploration route of the 18th-century British navigator James Cook.