Into the Blue: Boldly going where Captain Cook has gone before - Softcover

Horwitz, Tony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 174114163X ISBN 13: 9781741141634

Publisher: Allen & Unwin, 2003

Synopsis

'One of the most captivating books on Captain Cook I have yet read Horwitz's eye for detail and ear for dialogue are Brysonesque indeed the master had better look to his own laurels.' Tim Bowden, Good Reading 'There is an irresistible momentum to Horwitz's epic journey You will seldom encounter travel writing better than this, and it is no surprise that Into the Blue has rocketed up the best-seller lists.' The Sydney Morning Herald'What a ripping yarn is Into the Blue, all rum, sodomy and the lash. It's also a complex and comprehensive salute to a man who rose from humble origins to become leader of men Compelling, and still a relevant tale, Horwitz has done the good (and bad) captain proud.' The New Zealand HeraldCaptain James Cook's three epic journeys in the eighteenth century were the last great voyages of discovery. Tony Horwitz vividly recounts Cook's voyages and the exotic scenes he encountered: tropical orgies, taboo rituals, human sacrifice, hip-throbbing Tahitian dancers, New Zealand cannibals, Hawaiian surfers, and Australian Aborigines sealed off from the rest of the world for thousands of years. He also explores Cook the man: an impoverished farmboy who broke through the barriers of his class and time to become the greatest navigator in history.Tony Horwitz follows in Cook's footsteps to uncover his legacy, and along the way has many revealing and often amusing adventures of his own. By turns harrowing and hilarious, insightful and entertaining, Into the Blue brings to life a man whose voyages have left an indelible mark on the world as we know it.

About this title

Review:

Rarely have the heroic endeavours of Captain James Cook been accorded a biographical odyssey that can match the ambition of Tony Horwitz's Into the Blue; this is an epic treatment of an epic subject. More than the picture of a remarkable and enigmatic personality, this is a panoply of an age of exploration and adventure.

The three dangerous voyages that he undertook between 1768 and 1779 were unquestionably daunting for Cook and his covoyagers, but they also signified the final glorious flowering of the voyages of discovery across the surface of the planet. Cook had the distinction of discovering more of the far-flung corners of the earth than any of his predecessors. From Tahiti to Siberia, from the mysteries of Easter Island to the exotic dangers of the Great Barrier Reef, Cook and his crew brought back to the "civilised" world news of some of the most shocking aspects of the human condition and as Horwitz reports, "people listened agog to his descriptions of the horrors of cannibalism and ritualistic sexual excess."

But who was Captain James Cook? To create a complex picture of a complex man, the author revisited the exotic corners of the world that Cook had discovered, and the author's own adventures are described with maximum vividness. A picture emerges of Cook as a driven man who abandoned the tedium of farm life and Georgian London to search out strange new worlds (the jacket blurb even--bizarrely--quotes Star Trek's famous split infinitive: "Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before"). Told with as much humour as turbulent excitement, Into the Blue is a passport to a mesmerising voyage into the life of an intriguing figure. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

"Playful but never flippant, meticulously researched and occasionally moving, this is an unusual take on the legacy of an enigmatic captain." -- THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, 19th October 2002

"a rollicking read that is also a sneaky work of
scholarship, providing new and unexpected insights ... A terrific book." -- Nathaniel Philbrick, author of IN THE HEART OF THE SEA

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen & Unwin
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 174114163X
• ISBN 13: 9781741141634
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496