This book tells the story of a little-known scientific expedition led by a monomaniacal officer that should have failed but instead located the continent of the Antarctic and made incredible discoveries.

Wilkes, the leader of the expedition, was a political appointee with none of the right skills. He had not a one of the personal skills that led to the successes of Lewis and Clark. He alienated and regularly flogged the sailors serving on his voyage. When he did not receive the promotions he wanted, he posed as a superior officer. He endangered everyone around him. In the interest of not spoiling a truly fascinating tale, I will stop listing there.

Leave it that in one single pre-Civil War voyage, this guy went to the Antarctic, Fiji, Hawaii, British Columbia, and New Zealand. He was repudiated as a fraud, and yet now, it turns out that much of his work was brilliant and accurate.

This is a good book. This is a very good book.