Sides narrates the history of the third and fatal voyage of James Cook-maritime captain and explorer extraordinaire. After his first two voyages across the ocean, Cook is given a secret task by King George III-find the Northwest Passage rumored to be past the Alaskan territories through the Arctic Ocean. He was famous and already 46, and a cushy life awaited him in a retirement post in Greenwich with his wife and children. But he would never shrink from a challenge and this would be the trip of a lifetime.
He fortified his ship, the Resolution, that carried supplies, fresh water, an assortment of farm animals, and things to trade, but he was also carrying the Polynesian Mai back to his homeland after four years of living in England. We meet his crew among whom included Clerke, captain of the pilot ship Discovery, his trusted friend and co-captain, the famous Bligh of the Mutiny fame, and navigator George Vancouver who is remembered in the naming of the Canadian city and island. Cook's ships carried botanists, naturalists, astronomers and artists along with blacksmiths and carpenters- Cook himself was a skilled cartographer. The captain was also known as the consummate seaman who could keep his head in emergencies and guide his ship and crew out of certain danger, but on this voyage he began to exhibit almost violent behaviors that surprised those who were serving under him.
As we sail with Cook and his crew, we revisit places that were known and explored, but they indeed sailed a wide wide sea and came across lands that no European had seen or even knew existed. The subtitle of the book, "Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook," foreshadows one of the last chapters. We learn of Cook's demise at the hands of Hawaiian warriors and of the circumstances that led up to it. All sides, opinions, historical documents, and native lore are presented to help make sense of the killing.
This book was enjoyable in so many ways. It was an exciting narration of an epic sea voyage with an amazing personality as its main character. In fact, Sides brought up the fact that many people thought that Captain James Cook was the inspiration for Captain James Kirk and the whole idea of the Federation. It was a book of science that explained concepts that we take for granted like the idea of latitude and Greenwich mean time. It was a wonderful travelogue of the places and peoples that we encountered. And it was an interesting meditation on the whole idea of history-who gets to write it and what is the truth? I followed the action on two maps as I read the book-one was a current map and the other a map from the 18th century. I recommend that you do the same.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
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