The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides

This is the story of Captain Cook's final voyage, which was mostly a triumph, except that he was killed in action on his way home. He also did not find a way over the top of North America, which he sought, but we know that was an unfulfillable goal. He was more of a cartographer than anything else, someone who those who followed him could emulate (including the young captain of the Beagle, Robert FitzRoy--these talented captains mapped the world and also furthered science). The part that is controversial about these voyages, that they brought native populations disease and eventually war, conquer, and colonialism is, I think, both tragic and inevitable. That people were enslaved and purposely exposed to disease is unforgivable--the part that is inevitable is that they would be discovered. Cook had made two world voyages by the time the book opens. He was a celebrity, having who had risen from virtually nothing. At sea, he’d bucked the Royal Navy’s tradition of violence and cruelty, therefore he kept crew members who both trusted him and wanted to follow him to sea--he brought them fortune and he brought them home alive. He’d figured out how to avoid scurvy and brought home information of incomparable value, had mastered new nautical instruments and served as an expert scientist, anthropologist and navigator. As mentioned above, his mapmaking skills were superlative. He brought a talented artist in order to best capture what they found that could not come home. The story is an excellent one, and the story teller does it justice.