The Fatal Voyage: Captain Cook's Last Great Journey

by Peter Aughton

Cook was the greatest explorer of his age and his voyages of discovery are the stuff of legend. During two long journeys, he circumnavigated the globe twice, charted the east coast of Australia, the whole of New Zealand and many islands in the Pacific. The Fatal Voyage is the story of Cook's final journey when he led his most dangerous and fabled expedition to search for the elusive Pacific entrance to the North West Passage. He set sail from England in July 1776 and along the way discovered the Hawaiian archipelago before mapping and charting the formidable north west coast of America, from Vancouver Island to the frozen northern coastline of Alaska. He sailed through the Bering Straits and although his ships reached the entrance to the North West Passage they were defeated by a sheer wall of ice blocking their way. Cook returned to Hawaii to rest, but a series of misjudgments between his men and the islanders sparked a violent clash in which Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay. Peter Aughton has here used letters, log records and the diaries of those involved in the voyage to tell an enthralling account of James Cook's last days at sea and reveal the extraordinary legacy he left behind.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Meydan01]

I did not enjoy this book that much. It was a couple of years ago that I read this book, but I remember that the author quoted too much from Cook's letters; etc, which might be good if you are researching or writing a paper about the subject, but it didn't help the narrative flow smoothly.

[Justin]

Aughton has a writing style that is easy to digest. This allowed him to move briskly through Captain Cook's last voyage, only spending time on the highlights of the journal entries. Having recently finished my masters in history- I wish Aughton wrote a lengthier version of this book with footnotes. The time spent in Alaska could have used more study and attention to the primary sources instead of writing off AK as a frozen wasteland. Still, this is a great read for a casual look at a fascinating exploration, particularly because Cook's final crew included so many notable historical figures.

[Kivrin]

I enjoyed the book, but it wasn't a great read. The author need to flesh out the story more. The long descriptions pulled from letters got tedious after a while. It was just meh.