The Wide Wide Sea
By Hampton Sides

Aand NEW YORK TIMESand TOP-TEN BOOK OF 2024A BARACK OBAMA BOOK OF THE YEARFromand New York Timesand bestselling author Hampton Sides, the epic account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, culminating in Captain James Cook's death Extraordinarily compulsive and fascinating.and I felt it somehow told me more about the making of the modern world than any book I had read for ages'and STEPHEN FRY, BOOKS OF THE YEAR,and Observer Anand astounding taleand . . . recreated inand swashbuckling detail . . .and Sides delivers it with narrative urgency.and The cast of characters is a joy'and Sunday Times Anand enthrallingand account of Captain Cook's final, fatal voyage… Anand excellentand new book'and The Economist A rollicking good read, with a tone that reminds me of David Grann's recent tale of the 1741and Wagerand shipwreck . . . riveting'and Daily Telegraph'Vivid and propulsive'and New York Times---On July 12th, 1776, Captain James Cook, already lionized as the greatest explorer in British history, set off on his third voyage in HMSand Resolution. Two-and-a-half years later, on a beach in Hawaii, Cook was killed - beaten and stabbed in a conflict with the indigenous population.What brought Cook to these final moments, so at odds with his reputation? Renowned for his humane leadership, dedication to science and the curiosity and respect, not judgement, with which he greeted societies that were new to him, Cook had already mapped huge swathes of the Pacific and initiated first European contact with numerous native peoples.The stated mission for his third voyage was to return a Tahitian man, Mai, who had become the toast of London high society, to his home islands. But Cook carried secret orders to venture north, to discover the fabled Northwest Passage and chart and claim lands before Britain's imperial rivals. And Cook himself was different on his final, fatal voyage.Deeply researched and vividly told,and The Wide Wide Seaand is at once a ferociously-paced, epic adventure and a searching examination of the consequences of the Age of Exploration from a master storyteller.---- Sides has written a riveting book, deeply researched, light of touch and always judicious and full-sailed about an exceptional man's final extraordinary journey'and SPECTATOR'A wonderful, visceral yarn and an enthralling read, replete with brilliant detail'and -ROBERT MCCRUMPRAISE FOR HAMPTON SIDES'Enthrallingand … as gripping as any well-paced thriller but a lot more interesting because it is also true'and THE TIMES Stunninglyand vivid' MARK BOWDEN, AUTHOR OFand BLACK HAWK DOWN'Splendidand in every way… a marvellous nonfiction thriller'and WALL STREET JOURNAL Extraordinaryand … meticulous research shores up a fast-paced narrative'and FINANCIAL TIMES'Viscerallyand dramaticand … spellbinding...and bold, dynamic, unusually vivid'and NEW YORK TIMES'Unforgettable…a pulse-racing epic … a masterful work of history and storytelling'and LOS ANGELES TIMES Reads like a first-class epic thriller'and TIME