Blue Latitudes

Abridged
Author: Tony Horowitz
Narrator: Daniel Gerroll
Genres: History, Biographies, World
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Date: October 2002
Length: 9 hours
Ratings:
  • Book Rating: 4.5/5
Formats:
  • CD

Overview

James Cook's three epic journey's in the eighteenth century were the last great voyages of discovery. When he embarked for the Pacific in 1768, a third of the globe remained blank. By the time he died in 1779, Cook had explored more of the earth's surface than anyone in history.

Adventuring in the captain's wake, Tony Horwitz relives his journeys and explores their legacy. He recaptures the rum-and-lash world of eighteenth century seafaring gang members, and the king of Tonga. Accompanied by a carousing Australian mate, he meets Miss Tahiti, visits the roughest bar in Alaska, and uncovers the secret behind the red-toothed warriors of Savage Island.

Throughout, Horwitz also searches for Cook the man: a restless prodigy who fled his peasant boyhood, and later the luxury of Georgian London, for the privation and peril of sailing off the edge of the map.

Reviews (2)

Blue Latitudes

Written by Gayle Weston on April 3rd, 2008

  • Book Rating: 4/5

I thought it was great. I always thought Cook was just a european explorer out to conquer new worlds and destroy native populations, but after hearing his thoughts and practices on his journeys I can see many other men of the time would have done a much worse job of it. The Reader was great and the author's friend Rodger that accompanies him on many of his adventures is a hoot and a half. Very good "read"

Blue Latitudes

Written by Brad Busson on November 19th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 3/5

You find yourself all over the world sharing dinks with beautiful Tahitian girls to the frigid North West and back again. What struck me the most was that Tony wanted to know what people thought of James Cook then and now? For the first time I have a better understanding of who James Cook was and the impact he had on the cultures he encountered!