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Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before

Tony Horwitz

4.01 · Rating details · 9,233 ratings · 648 reviews

Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone BeforeTwo centuries after James Cook's epic voyages of discovery, Tony Horwitz takes readers on a wild ride across hemispheres and centuries to recapture the Captain's adventures and explore his embattled legacy in today's Pacific. Horwitz, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of Confederates in the Attic, works as a sailor aboard a r ...more

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Paperback, 480 pages

Published August 1st 2003 by Picador USA (first published October 1st 2002)

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Jan 08, 2013 Bob rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own

I can't get enough of Tony Horwitz. He's like a smarter, less cheesy Bill Bryson (whom I also like, don't get me wrong). How Horwitz packs new historical perspective into a book this enjoyable is amazing. Every book is the same: I feel wiser and happier when I'm finished.

This journey with Captain Cook was no different. An entire part of (fairly recent) human history I knew nothing about turned into a fun romp through renaissance exploration. It added a brilliant understanding of early Pacific pe ...more

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Jul 03, 2008 Lauren rated it really liked it

Shelves: world-history, travel, australian-lit

I knew next to nothing about Captain James Cook when i picked up this book... history books generally gloss over his voyages, even though he explored an area that encompasses nearly 1/3 of the globe. Horwitz's urge to learn all he could about the man and his work is infectious... you can see this in the text rubbing off on those around him, as seen in Roger, his companion on many of his "Cook" travels.

Retracing Captain Cook's three voyages, relying heavily on the diaires of Cook himself, Horwitz I knew next to nothing about Captain James Cook when i picked up this book... history books generally gloss over his voyages, even though he explored an area that encompasses nearly 1/3 of the globe. Horwitz's urge to learn all he could about the man and his work is infectious... you can see this in the text rubbing off on those around him, as seen in Roger, his companion on many of his "Cook" travels.

Retracing Captain Cook's three voyages, relying heavily on the diaires of Cook himself, Horwitz decides to take a short trip to the Pacific Northwest to sail for 10 days in a replica of Cook's ship. He wanted a feel for the life or a seaman, and he sure gets it!! Next he sets off to Australia and New Zealand. His journalistic style brings in great aspects of history, anthropology, and language. He interviews Maori people in New Zealand and Aborigines in Australia, asking them what memories their people have of Cook and his men. Both groups remember Captain Cook, oftentimes in a negative light. It does not appear that they despise Cook as a man, but more of what he stood for, and what his exploration meant for the native culture.

Horwitz and Roger then begin to island hop around the Pacific. I particularly liked the time they spent on the island of Niue (like Horwitz, I had never heard of this island.) Describing the scene, Horwitz claims it may be the last part of Polynesia that is not spoiled by commercialism and tourists. He and Roger stay for a week on this small island (only 11 miles long!) and try to unravel the mystery of the hula hula (Cook's men were scared away from these islands by men with red teeth, and they named the island Savage Island because they thought the people were cannibals).

Roger and Horwitz go to Yorkshire, England, Cook's birthplace (and Roger's too), and take part in a few days of the Cook festival. They meet Cliff, the young president of the Captain Cook society, and try to find out as much as they can about the enigmatic Cook. Going to Cook's own home gives Horwitz a different take on the man, and he learns more about Cook's beliefs and his philosophies.

Their travels end in Hawaii, like Cook's did in 1778. They commemorate Cook on the beach where he was killed.

The other aspect of this book that fascinated me was how Horwitz tried to get "into Cook's head". Cook was a son of the Enlightenment, and did not come to Polynesia with preconceived notions of God, Gold, and Glory like earlier explorers. He wanted to discover and learn about others, and was very scientifically conscious for a man of his time. ...more

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Nov 28, 2008 Linda rated it it was amazing

In my research for Wai-nani, A Voice from Old Hawaii, I read a dozen accounts of Captain James Cook’s deadly encounter with the natives of Hawaii in 1779. This included not only the Captains’ journal, but that of seaman, John Ledyard, and that of first mate, Lt. King. When Tony Horwitz declared that in Blue Latitudes he would take us boldly where Captain Cook had gone before, I didn’t expect to learn anything new. What I found was the most informative, well-researched, fun account of the famous ...more

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Sep 15, 2009 Deborah Edwards rated it it was amazing

Shelves: personal-faves

“Those who would go to sea for pleasure would go to hell for pastime” – 18th century aphorism

If I were someone who believed in reincarnation, I would have to entertain the notion that I must have been a sea captain in a previous life. Why else would I be so fascinated by the lives of the men who set sail on voyages of discovery, risking all to find lost continents, the fabled Northwest passage, or the elusive “terra australis?” And why else would I be so enamored of the sea and so terrified by i “Those who would go to sea for pleasure would go to hell for pastime” – 18th century aphorism

If I were someone who believed in reincarnation, I would have to entertain the notion that I must have been a sea captain in a previous life. Why else would I be so fascinated by the lives of the men who set sail on voyages of discovery, risking all to find lost continents, the fabled Northwest passage, or the elusive “terra australis?” And why else would I be so enamored of the sea and so terrified by it, in equal parts? Reading accounts of early voyages, one truly understands the 18th century aphorism quoted above. Wooden ships of the day were often nothing more than floating deathtraps with rudimentary equipment, inadequate nutritional reserves, mutinous sailors, rats, filth, and untreatable diseases that could sweep through a ship and ravage its crew at any moment. Barring those perils, if injury or drowning could be avoided, generally scurvy would get you regardless. Those who survived at all rarely thrived under such conditions, particularly since these ships of discovery were often on voyages lasting several years at a time. What kind of man would have the wherewithal, the constitution, the intellect, the bearing, the wanderlust, the stoicism, the curiosity, the luck, and the basic common sense to not only thrive at sea, but set off on three separate voyages of discovery (in his forties, no less!) that changed the face of every map that existed during his lifetime? Captain Cook, of course, would be that man.

His story is remarkable in every possible way. He came from absolutely nothing. He was a poor Yorkshire farm boy, who like most of the poor Yorkshire farm boys of his time, could probably have hoped for little more than a hard, bucolic life with few conveniences and little opportunity of ever traveling more than a few miles beyond his home. Most people of his time lived and died in the shadow of the same small churchyard. Yet Cook ended up traveling hundreds of thousands of miles in his lifetime, reaching parts of the globe no one had ever reached before him and circumnavigating the globe several times over. How did this modest man with little schooling, no means, and no lofty connections raise himself up to become a captain in the Royal Navy and possibly the greatest explorer of all time? Tony Horwitz became obsessed with this very same question and set off on his own journey of discovery to not only chart the progress of Cook’s three very famous voyages, but also to try to uncover the character of the real Captain Cook, a man who has been both honored and vilified by cultures across the globe for over two centuries, cultures for whom Cook seems to signify many things to many people.

Horwitz is a fantastically engaging writer. His casual humor and wry observations put one in mind of Bill Bryson, a comparison which I consider a huge compliment. Horwitz knew he wanted to tell Cook’s story in a way that would be historically accurate but also would be appealing and readable. So, he decided to intersperse the details of Cook’s voyages (all of which are fascinating in every detail in and of themselves) with the story of his own voyage to “boldly go where Captain Cook has gone before.” This was a brilliant tack, and I’ll tell you why. From reading the journals of Cook and his men, it is obvious that Cook was in many ways the first true anthropologist. Yes, others made contact with native peoples before him, but Cook seemed to be the first real practitioner of what modern anthropologists call “cultural relativity,” the notion of accepting the practices, beliefs and traditions of other cultures, learning and observing without judgment, and attempting to make a positive impact without too greatly affecting the culture as a whole. Now, granted, this was the 1700s and not everything went off quite the way Cook would have liked, but that’s all detailed in the book. Suffice to say, Cook was sort of the Jean-Luc Picard of sea exploration (if you understand that reference you’re as big a dork as I am). He wanted to find new frontiers, chart new territory, experience rare flora and fauna, try new cuisine (he was a VERY adventurous eater) and truly make connections with native peoples – not to exploit them, as colonists would, not to strip their resources, as so many others would in his wake, but to see the world and discover all there was to discover just for the sake of doing it – and being the first to do so. If he were alive today, he’d be volunteering for missions to Mars. Horwitz, on the other hand, is a journalist who knows the world has been discovered several hundred times over and wants really just to discover Cook. The real Cook. Not the symbol, not the hero or anti-hero. His mission is to uncover the truth under mountains of supposition. In doing so, he visits many of the same places that Cook visited and details the modern conditions of those peoples in ways that were all largely affected by Cook’s discovery of them. Sure, if not Cook, someone else would have done so – maybe fifty years later, maybe a hundred. But Cook was first, and because of that, many cultures see him -and maybe rightly so - as the villain who opened them up to the hordes of Europeans who later came and decimated them. Symbols are powerful things, and Cook became a symbol for his nation and all Western nations who raped the land and its people. It’s anthropology in action: Cook’s journals detailing the pristine cultures on first contact; Horwitz writing about the long-term effects of colonial influence on modern peoples. It’s all as sobering as it is fascinating, and the modern story has as many “discoveries” as Cook’s did.

Horwitz keeps it moving along, at just the right pace, and he adds color and comic relief by embarking on many of his journeys with his hard-partying friend Roger, another Yorkshire man who hightailed it to Australia, (though that’s where the Cook analogy ends). Roger’s jaded demeanor and pithy observations often put things back in perspective when Horwitz’s quest for the truth and Cook’s idealistic legacy meet incongruous modern roadblocks. It took me awhile to get used to Roger, but once I did, I was glad to have him along for the ride. There are so many facets to this book, so much history and lore; it is difficult to even write a synopsis. Patrick O’Brian fans will note the similarity between the relationship of Cook and Joseph Banks (the young botanist and upper crust adventurer who accompanied Cook on his storied first voyage) to that of Aubrey and Maturin. Others will note the appearance of William Bligh in the crew of Cook’s third voyage, a man who would make history on “The Bounty” soon afterwards. Cook went everywhere. Literally everywhere. From Polynesia to Antarctica. He looked for the Northwest Passage, and befriended Maori cannibals. Through it all he seems to have been largely a man of principle, fidelity and acceptance in a world so often unlike him, someone who managed to meet the world on his terms and not necessarily those of his Eurocentric brethren. Hopefully, through Tony Horwitz, people will come away with a clearer picture of this captain, mathematician, adventurer, astronomer, and yes, anthropologist, who truly went where no white man had gone before - and sometimes beyond that - to where no one in the human race had ever gone before. And when he was done, he packed up and did it all over again.
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Oct 02, 2007 Mary rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: history and sailing fans

Despite an interesting topic (Captain Cook) and a fascinating setting (the Pacific), I found this book ponderous and lacking momentum. Perhaps it was the organization but once I'd read about Cook's first journey to the South Pacific, I was done with this book (I did finish - you know by now that if I'd quit the rating would be 1 star "it's a book"). It picked up again when the author visited Yorkshire, Cook's childhood home, but then bogged down. The end was awkward, bringing in the author's chi ...more

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Sep 22, 2011 Mike rated it really liked it

Shelves: naval, non-fiction, history, travel, pacific

This is a 4 Star read–had to take one star away. But such a good book about a man I knew little about (I always wondered where the “Sandwich Islands” came from, learned about it here). Lots of laughs and lots of thoughtful commentary interspersed with the history of Cook’s three voyages to the Pacific. Horwitz gives you the enjoyable travelogue of a Bill Bryson with almost none of the left-wing snark. Horwitz and his buddy Roger follow, as best they can, Cook’s journeys and visit many of the isl This is a 4 Star read–had to take one star away. But such a good book about a man I knew little about (I always wondered where the “Sandwich Islands” came from, learned about it here). Lots of laughs and lots of thoughtful commentary interspersed with the history of Cook’s three voyages to the Pacific. Horwitz gives you the enjoyable travelogue of a Bill Bryson with almost none of the left-wing snark. Horwitz and his buddy Roger follow, as best they can, Cook’s journeys and visit many of the islands. The visits are both interesting and sad. Horwitz recounts the island cultures of the day and compares it to what it is now. The book begins with Horwitz taking a short working cruise on the replica of Cook’s first Pacific ship, the Endeavour, in order to understand just what the men faced as they sailed into the unknown:

If I’d been aboard the original Endeavour, the journey ahead would have loomed rather larger: 1,052 days, to be exact, assuming I was among the 60 percent who survived. This was a notion I struggled to wrap my mind around. I’d often felt sorry for myself when flying to and from Australia. Twenty hours in the air! A forced march through movies, meals, and mystery novels. Almost the limit of the modern traveler’s endurance. Yet it had taken Cook and his men a year and a half to reach Australia, and almost as long to get home again.

The accounts of Cook’s travels and his exploits are amazing. Ben Franklin ordered the US Navy to treat Cook and his men as friends—in the middle of the Revolutionary War! Catherine the Great followed his explorations. I gained a great deal of admiration for these explorers.

Reading Cook’s journals is a constant reminder of how specialized our skills have become in the modern era. On one page, Cook discusses astronomy, geology, meteorology, and animal husbandry. On the next, he offers insight into management, commerce, and diplomacy. Then he veers into lengthy speculation about ocean currents, the formation of islands. Few people today would even dream of dabbling in so many disciplines, much less mastering them.

Cook didn’t excel at everything. He was a merely competent linguist who leaned heavily on other crewmen when assembling native vocabularies. Cook also freely acknowledged that religion remained a mystery to him. Nonetheless, he seems such a polymath that his occasional blind spots come as a shock. One such limitation was his shaky grasp of Polynesian politics. In his approach to almost every other realm of Pacific life—including sexual mores and cannibalism—Cook displayed a steady shrewdness and lack of bias. But when it came to navigating island governance, Cook often tried to squeeze very foreign customs into an inelastic British box.

I have a forest of little markers sticking out of my copy noting key events. I should come back later and do a better review. Fantastic book, lots of fun mixed in with serious scholarship.
...more

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Oct 10, 2008 Dana Stabenow rated it it was amazing

In Blue Latitudes journalist Tony Horwitz follows in the footsteps of Captain Cook, beginning with a week working as a member of the crew on board a replica of Cook’s ship Endeavor. I’d always thought of Cook as this stereotypical British officer, all his buttons properly polished and looking down a very long nose at all these dreadful loincloth-clad natives. In fact, Cook was born in a pigsty, was subject in his youth to a strong Quaker influence, and worked his way up from shoveling coal to ca ...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Ensiform rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, travel

Over 440 pages, the American author follows in Cook’s footsteps, recounting the captain’s exploits every step of the way. He meets British admirers of Cook, Maoris who excoriate the man as a murderous syphilitic invader, Australians who are ignorant of his exploits, and Pacific Islanders who accept him as part of their history. He interviews the king of Tongo, sails on a replica of Cook’s ship The Endeavor, and drops in on remote Inuit fishing villages. Trying to get at the heart of Cook, Horwit ...more

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Aug 08, 2017 Pasfendis rated it liked it

3 1/2 stars. We follow the author from the frozen arctic to Australia's outback; from New Zealand to the shores of Tahiti and Hawaii as he embarks on his own journey of discovery to learn about Captain James Cook. The author retraces the last three expeditions of the intrepid Captain Cook and visits those places that Cook visited in an attempt to study his lingering effect on the modern world and its inhabitants. This book is part history and part travelogue- it goes back and forth (rather seaml ...more

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Oct 22, 2018 Jolanta (knygupe) rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, x-audio, travel, autobiographies-biographies-memoirs

3.9*
Visai smagiai pakeliauta keliautojo, kartografo, atradejo kapitono James Cook pedomis.

"Ambition leads me not only farther any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go."
-The Journal of Captain James Cook ...more

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Oct 03, 2007 Linda rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: anyone

Shelves: favorites

This book was laugh-out-loud funny. The author, along with his buddy, retrace the travels of Captain Cook. The book goes back and forth between the history of Captain Cook, and what the places that he visited are like today as the author visits them. Highly recommended.

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Mar 21, 2017 Tomislav rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, history

I don’t remember how this book got onto my to-be-read list, but the other day I took my list to the local library and looked up all the books that were actually currently on the shelf, and checked out the few of them. Then I was reading Greg Bear’s Anvil of Stars, and it mentioned the “Captain Cook solution” to fighting a more advanced civilization. Blue Latitudes starts out with a kahuna coming aboard the Resolution to return some of the deboned flesh of Captain Cook’s body. It seems they saved I don’t remember how this book got onto my to-be-read list, but the other day I took my list to the local library and looked up all the books that were actually currently on the shelf, and checked out the few of them. Then I was reading Greg Bear’s Anvil of Stars, and it mentioned the “Captain Cook solution” to fighting a more advanced civilization. Blue Latitudes starts out with a kahuna coming aboard the Resolution to return some of the deboned flesh of Captain Cook’s body. It seems they saved certain bones in order to capture his power. My choice was made.

Tony Horwitz is a former war correspondent, and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, who in his “retirement” has researched and written several popular travel/history/biography books like Blue Latitudes. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he set out to research the three major exploratory voyages that James Cook undertook for England between the years of 1768 and 1780, and to visit some of the same sites finding out what has become of them in the little over 200 years since. His partner on most of his trips is his hard-drinking and womanizing Australian friend Roger Williamson, whose crude commentary sparks up the narrative.

It’s not the role of a review to re-tell the contents of any book. If you want that, or if you want to select an individual chapter to read, you can refer to my notes below. My overall assessment is that I found this a fascinating read. Horwitz carefully interweaves the stories of Captain Cook with his own, for interesting contrasts. However, I enjoyed the Captain Cook stories more, not actually knowing them before this. I had expected Horwitz to follow Cook’s routes more closely, rather than just drop in at those points he found interesting or pleasant. His and Roger’s disappointments seemed to follow a sameness, relieved by drinking with the locals. This was accompanied by a frank discussion of the drinking at sea, and the sexual activities and consequent spread of venereal diseases by Cook’s crews among local islanders.

Contact with the West (England in this case), trade, colonization, and spread of disease was devastating to indigenous people around the globe. In the end, Horwitz tries to create a positive spin of mutual contact and communication, with damage limited by Cook’s reserved personality and leadership. But it counters the overall tone of the book, and I don’t think it works very well. The best I can say, is that the results were probably inevitable no matter who the leader had been.

There is some serious scholarship behind this book, but it is written in an approachable and entertaining way. Here are my chapter by chapter notes:
1. Pacific Northwest: One Week Before The Mast - Horwitz's first one week experience on the reconstructed Endeavor, comparing to what it was like for Cook, Banks, and their crew. He never gives the date for this, but based on his age at the time and his birth year, it must have been the late 1990s.
2. Tahiti: Sic Transit Venus - Horwitz and his friend fly to Tahiti. They don't so much trace Cook's route, as just drop in on Papeete. We learn a little about the differing character of Cook and Banks. After visiting the Gauguin Museum "It's always the same story, isn't it? You try to escape, to find simplicity, and end up bringing all your baggage with you."
3. To Bora-Bora: Sold A Pup - Cook sailed to Society Islands after Tahiti in order to give the crew time to be treated for venereal disease. Horwitz and his friend rent a yacht and sail to Bora-Bora where they become disillusioned about yet another "paradise.”
4. New Zealand: Warriors, Still - Cook, looking for a fabled southern continent, instead found New Zealand. The Maori are closely related to Tahitians, and the languages are mutually understandable. Horwitz flew to New Zealand, and found a largely antagonistic attitude among the modern descendants of the Maori.
5. Botany Bay: In The Pure State of Nature - Cook first encountered Australia and Aborigines at Botany Bay, then sailed past Port Jackson (now Sydney Harbor). Horwitz visits the environmental degradation of Botany Bay, and the cultural denigration of Cook in modern Australian society. I noticed that "white" and "British" seem to be used as interchangeable terms.
6. The Great Barrier Reef: Wrecked - The Endeavor was damaged on the Great Barrier Reef and nearly sank. They got the ship to shore and spent a month repairing it. The site is now Cooktown in northern Queensland, where Horwitz attends a drunken festival.
7. Homeward Bound: The Hospital Ship - Cook, Banks, and crew reach Batavia (Jakarta) in good health, but after two weeks face an outbreak of malaria. Many died there and on the trip to Cape Town. They return to London and Cook gets approval for a second voyage - this time with two ships. Fortunately, no modern-day Horwitz adventures are interspersed in the narrative.
8. Savage Island: The Hunt for Red Banana. Cook spent years approaching Antarctica and searching for a great southern continent. Horwitz chose not to attempt to reproduce any of that, but rather returned to tropical islands Cook visited briefly. In this chapter, he and Roger spend a week at Niue, a very small and isolated island republic, searching for the red banana plant the islanders used to stain their teeth.
9. Tonga: Where Time Begins, and Goes Back - Cook very much liked Tonga. Possibly it is because the hierarchical society resembled England. Horwitz and Roger visit and find it mostly unfriendly. He finds and interviews a family that claims to be descended from Captain Cook.
10. North Yorkshire: A Plain Zealous Man. Horwitz returns to the birthland of James Cook. There is a lot of marginal memorabilia in the couple of towns, but not much actually of Cook. Quakerism seems to have been a major influence on him.
11. London: Shipping Out Again. Cook tried to settle down as a hospital administrator, but it did not last. He shipped out on his third voyage in less than a year.
12. Alaska: Outside Men. The mission of the third voyage was to find the Northwest Passage. Cook sailed east to Polynesia and north to the Bering Sea. His behavior turned erratic. Horwitz and Roger travel to Unalaska and recount Aleut history and WW2.
13. Hawaii: The Last Island. After Alaska, Cook was given a grand welcome at Hawaii. Sailed away in triumph.
14. Kealakekua Bay: A Bad Day on Black Rock. Needed to return after 3 days. The story of Cook's death at Kealakekua, and several theories about why it happened. The last month of Cook's diary is missing, probably removed by the crew or the admiralty later. An image of Herb Kuwainui Kane’s painting “Moment When Captain James Cook was Killed” can be found from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/4996885... .
15. Epilogue: A Period To His Labours - Survivors sail to Kamchatka, and make another run at Alaska and Northwest Passage. Most of the crew go on to other naval adventures and many die at sea. William Bligh and the mutinous Bounty. Elizabeth and Cook's sons. The Endeavor and the Resolution are in Newport Bay, off the coast of Rhode Island. Horwitz finds the arrow reputedly made from Cook's bone. End of text. ...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Clifdisc rated it liked it

Blue Latitudes is half history and half travelog as author Tony Horwitz travels the world in the footsteps of Captain Cook. Horwitz is a great writer and I really enjoyed the way he cut back and forth between the historical details of Cook's travels and his own modern day travels investigating Cook's legacy. The balance was well struck and both stories were interesting, though the history was perhaps a little more interesting.

Horwitz is also a funny writer with a knack for finding colorful peopl ...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Chrisl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2000s, history, travel, australia

Haven't been able to engage with Horwitz in his other subject areas, but meshed well with 'Into the Blue.' Like how he told the story.
***
Had increased enthusiasm - Having been bodily near some of book's content ... two long, long boat rides, in 68 and 69. Grad school class on Oceania. Fascinated at times by imaging the "Boldly Going" of our boat people ancestors of many thousands of years ago. ...more

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Feb 08, 2020 Helio rated it liked it

This offered to be a valuable read with present day visits to Captain Cook places of explorations and recounting what Cook discovered but I could have done without the incessant bar hoping, drinking, vomiting and sizing up the chances for sex. The one outing in Cooktown, Austraila would have been enough, starnge as it was.

The book did offer insights as to opposing theories as to why Captain Cook was killed Valentines Day 1779 in Hawaii. It was also interesting in that Cook found the Maori aggres ...more

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Dec 05, 2018 Jamie rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, travel

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Horowitz manages to make it funny, informative, and thoughtful. He brings to life both Captain Cook’s era and the consequences of those times. There is a lot of information here about Cook’s life and voyages, and the people and places he encountered. James Cook was one of the world’s great explorers, a self-made man who rose from a poor rural background to be the most famous mariner of his time, and celebrated worldwide for his feats of navigation and discovery. H I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Horowitz manages to make it funny, informative, and thoughtful. He brings to life both Captain Cook’s era and the consequences of those times. There is a lot of information here about Cook’s life and voyages, and the people and places he encountered. James Cook was one of the world’s great explorers, a self-made man who rose from a poor rural background to be the most famous mariner of his time, and celebrated worldwide for his feats of navigation and discovery. He was a scientist and a diplomat as well as an explorer and treated the natives he met with surprising dignity and respect – surprising, that is, compared to the Europeans who followed him to plunder and conquer.

It is hard for us to even imagine the rigors of a voyage of circumnavigation of the globe in a small, cramped, fragile little ship plowing across the vast oceans at speeds of about five knots. There used to be a saying, “Wooden ships and iron men,” and that is certainly apt. Horowitz spent ten days on a replica sailing ship and found it exhausting and dangerous; now imagine an eighteenth century sailor on a three year voyage into the unknown.

Horowitz retraces Cook’s three voyages, and much of what he sees is not encouraging. After walking along Tahiti’s garbage-choked beaches and noting that European diseases, firearms, and meddling caused a 95% reduction in the population within a hundred years of Cook’s arrival the reader is left to ponder the advantages of modern medicine and science against the squalor and poverty that seem to tread in civilization’s wake. The story is not much better in the other places Horowitz visits. Tonga is a good example. He manages to interview the king, who makes the age-old argument for monarchy, that his people are children, and they need him. Yeah right, need him and his goons so that he can stay in power so that his family and cronies can monopolize what little wealth the islands generate.

For most of his trips Horowitz traveled with a friend called Roger, who may have been a real person, or may have been a real person whose drunken loutishness was embellished to add color to the story, or who may have been a bit of artistic license. I am sure there are many Australians who roll their eyes at the stereotypical depiction of an Aussie male as drunken, aggressive, and boorish. Horowitz’s writing style is often compared to Bill Bryson, and Roger reminded me of the character of Katz in Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, who was such a funny-but-irresponsible dope that I never could decide if he was a real person or someone created by the author to liven up the story.

In his voyages Cook went as far north as the Bering Sea near Alaska and as far south as Antarctica, and crisscrossed the Pacific three times. Along the way he sailed with others who would be famous in their own rights, such as the naturalist Joseph Banks and William Bligh, who seems not to have been the maritime monster of legend, but a capable captain betrayed by an untrustworthy crew. Cook’s last voyage ended with his death in Hawaii, and Horowitz does a good job piecing together a narrative from facts which have become enshrouded in myth and legend. As so often happens, tragedy resulted from a combination of misunderstanding, impatience, and cultural conflict. It was a sad end for Cook, but it is hard to imagine that he would ever have been happy living out his life ashore in England. He was probably fated to die at sea.

Horowitz is a great storyteller, and he has lots of good material to work with here. The book ranges widely over history, travel, and anthropology and never loses the reader’s interest. Highly recommended. ...more

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Aug 05, 2008 Siobhan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, 2008

I must confess here that I love Tony Horwitz's writing. His ability to pick an interesting topic and delve into it from a myriad of perspectives is both astonishing and entertaining. He has a wry view of the world that allows him to talk to just about anyone, just about anywhere. Looking at the world from his perspective provides information and insights that I just haven't seen elsewhere.

That certainly is the case with Blue Latitudes. Previously, I knew that Captain Cook "discovered" Hawaii an ...more

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Feb 01, 2016 Brian rated it really liked it

Tony Horwitz is an entertaining and fair writer, and this is my second favorite of his works thus far. "Blue Latitudes" gives credence to an oft overlooked titan of exploration and is also a humorous and informative modern journey to the places discovered and studied by Captain Cook on his three voyages.
Horwitz's style in this text is the same as in previous works: part travelogue, part history. And like in previous efforts the formula works here too. Personally I love the integration of histor ...more

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May 07, 2020 Carmen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adventure-aventura, globetrotter, archive-openlibrary-org, 2020-globetrotter, oceania-antarctica, americas, europe, travel, nonfiction, 2020

If there was an overriding message in his journals, it was that people, the world over, were alike in their essential nature—even if they ate their enemies, made love in public, worshipped idols, or, like Aborigines, cared not at all for material goods. No matter how strange another society might at first appear, there were almost always grounds for mutual understanding and respect.

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Dec 19, 2011 Rob rated it really liked it

Let this wonderful book be your introduction to Captain Cook and the culture of love and vitriol surrounding him, even today. Cook was not an American, of course, and so there is nothing absolutely great he could have accomplished in the way of daring and understanding and prudence when exploring both poles and every latitude between on three unprecedented voyages. However, for an Englishman he did pretty well. He charted previously uncharted waters with a thoroughness and precision unmatched un ...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Tony Taylor rated it it was amazing

Very interesting and so well written. The author, Tony Horwitz, decides to follow the course of Captain James Cook, the great English explorer of the 19th century, as he travelled the Pacific on three epic voyages "discovering" many unique places that had never been visited by Europeans. Horwitz tells of his own adventures with a fine sense of humor, made all the more delightful by his traveling companion, a mostly-soused Englishman who lives in Australia and loves to sail. The author did his re ...more

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May 12, 2010 John rated it liked it

Recommends it for: Horwitz fans

Shelves: travel, history, bio-and-memoir

I've decided that I'm just not Horwitz' target audience. I really suffered through the long Conquistador segments of A Voyage Long and Strange, finding Horwitz' modern-day adventures didn't relieve that tedium enough. This book consists (primarily) of a chapter per location, in an A - B pattern of a Cook synopsis, followed by the modern trail findings; I found myself skimming the former each time, while finding the latter only mildly interesting. As is often the case, the sidekick proved a more ...more

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Dec 31, 2019 Jennifer rated it it was ok

Shelves: non-fiction

It turned out to be a lot of work to get through this book. Horwitz follows the voyages of Captain James Cook and hypothesizes about how it might have been. Horwitz is mostly irreverent and a little snide, with occasional flashes of insight. I was generally disappointed.

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Oct 29, 2012 Laurie rated it really liked it

Shelves: places-journeys, themes-12-13, history, sun-drenched, oceania, high-seas

Fascinating from beginning to end.

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Mar 05, 2020 Richard Levine rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020

I was very saddened to hear about Tony Horwitz's sudden death last year, but at least I still have a few more of his lively, funny, and interesting books to look forward to reading. Blue Latitudes, written in 2002, is an entertaining mix of history and travel journalism, in which Horwitz visits many of the farflung locales "discovered" by Captain Cook during his three journeys of exploration to the Pacific Ocean in the 18th century. Horwitz alternates between chapters in which he gives us a fair I was very saddened to hear about Tony Horwitz's sudden death last year, but at least I still have a few more of his lively, funny, and interesting books to look forward to reading. Blue Latitudes, written in 2002, is an entertaining mix of history and travel journalism, in which Horwitz visits many of the farflung locales "discovered" by Captain Cook during his three journeys of exploration to the Pacific Ocean in the 18th century. Horwitz alternates between chapters in which he gives us a fairly straight historical account of Cook's life, career, and adventures; and chapters in which, accompanied by a usually drunk friend named Roger, he travels to many of the places visited by Cook -- such as Tahiti, Bora Bora, Tonga, the New Zealand and Australian coasts, Alaska and Hawaii -- occasionally becoming involved in weird "re-enactments" of Cook's first landing and encounters with the native peoples.

The straight history part of the book is worthwhile by itself. Horwitz did a ton of reading about Cook's travels and gives what seemed to me a very balanced and sympathetic perspective. Cook's discoveries, for the most part, pretty much led to the ruination of all the native populations in the idyllic Polynesian paradises he encountered; but Cook himself was not a murderous or rapacious adventurer, and usually tried (though not always with success) to get his crew to treat the natives with some decency. As Horwitz heard from more than one present-day descendant of native peoples, Cook wasn't so bad -- it was everyone who came after him.

Horwitz's own travel adventures serve to help contextualize Cook's legacy, as illustrated by the above comment. Wherever he goes, Horwitz talks to locals and asks them about Cook -- sometimes he gets shrugs or comically misinformed reactions, but often he finds local residents with deep insights or interesting and obscure information about Cook's visit and its influence on the native land and people. Horwitz's goal in the book is to try to understand Cook -- he's kind of like the reporter in Citizen Kane. So as he travels across the Pacific, he asks lots of questions, hears some odd and not always reliable tales, and often finds himself musing about comments from others -- native people, Roger, various Cook experts he meets -- wondering if he's reached any new, true insight about Cook's "Rosebud."

Also, the parts where Roger plays a featured role are usually good for some comic relief. ...more

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Aug 17, 2020 Shannon rated it liked it

The first half or 60% of this book is great. I read it with gusto, expecting to give the book four stars when I finished. I loved all the gallivanting around the Pacific and the author's time in Australia. But then the book moved to Britain and the book became decidedly boring. I see why the author chose to do this, but how can North Yorkshire compare to Niue? I became so bored in these chapters that I almost DNF'd the book, after loving the first part so much. The chapters on Alaska and Hawaii ...more

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Jul 08, 2010 Yakinikuman rated it really liked it

Horwitz alternates telling the history of Cook’s background and expeditions with stories about the author’s own travels to some of the same regions. I liked the book a lot and thought it was an entertaining way to learn about Cook and how he is perceived today.

As the subtitle alludes, Horwitz was inspired by comparisons of Cook to another captain, Star Trek’s Captain Kirk. James Cook::James Kirk. The Endeavour::the Enterprise. Seeking out new peoples and new civilizations. Makes you wonder if Ro Horwitz alternates telling the history of Cook’s background and expeditions with stories about the author’s own travels to some of the same regions. I liked the book a lot and thought it was an entertaining way to learn about Cook and how he is perceived today.

As the subtitle alludes, Horwitz was inspired by comparisons of Cook to another captain, Star Trek’s Captain Kirk. James Cook::James Kirk. The Endeavour::the Enterprise. Seeking out new peoples and new civilizations. Makes you wonder if Roddenberry was paying homage to the great navigator. Cook did boldly go where no (European) man had gone before, and experienced the drama of “First Contact” numerous times: in Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest.

The conditions aboard an 18th century sailing ship and the dangers Cook encountered during his three, multi-year journeys really give cause for admiration of his courage and determination. It’s sad that many even today see Cook as the evil bringer of Western imperialism and the destroyer of native culture. Maybe the native cultures really were idyllic and totally wonderful (kind of doubt it … people tend to remember the good and not the bad). But, change was inevitable. If not Cook, then someone else would have “discovered” these places and peoples. It seems that Cook was probably more just to the natives than many other explorers might have been in the same situations. I think that we need to remember Cook in the context of his own time and culture, and respect his accomplishments. What he did was akin to exploring the Moon or Mars in our own day…gotta give him a little credit.

In light of this book and the previous one I read on Stanley, it makes me reconsider some of the places that would be fun to visit. I used to want to travel to many exotic destinations; now I think I would be content to just read about most of them. (Grand European Tour = still on!)

Factoids, etc:

Cook likely pronounced his name “koook”. That’s what Horwitz reports as the Yorkshire accented pronunciation, which is where Cook was from. Fits with the Tahitian name for Cook: “Toote”. There wasn’t a “k” sound in the Tahitian language, but Toote sounds a lot more like Koook than Cook.
The Polynesian dancing that is p.c.-ized as being about “the rhythm of the seas” – er no. It’s about what it looks like it’s about. Traditional Polynesian culture was much more, shall we say, liberated with respect to morality than even our society today.
Seems like Cook wasn’t up to form during his third (and final) expedition. He lacked some of his previous initiative (choosing not to try to find Fiji or Samoa after hearing of them) and was more insensitive to his crew and to the natives than before. Horwitz cites experts speculating that a vitamin-B deficiency, caused by ringworm infestation of the intestines, may have been to blame.
Herb Kane’s historical re-creation painting of the Death of Cook on Hawaii is mentioned and discussed at length in the book, but isn’t included. So I found the link: http://www.herbkanestudio.com/gallery... ...more

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Jan 15, 2011 Mike Prochot rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ships-and-sea, favorites

History mingled with a "buddy" type travel log. Tony Horwitz retraces the steps of Captain Cook and gives us a glimpse of how those locations have evolved since the good Captain visited.

Fun, very thought provoking and informative. Those interested in early exploration in general and of Captain Cook in particular should make it a point to read this book.

It is interesting to note the influence of Captain Cook that still exist in these places today - for good or for bad - and how the residents b ...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Mara rated it it was amazing

I almost recall the hubbub when this book came out in 2002, as I was living in the unincorporated town of Captain Cook at the time. But something kept it from me until now. It certainly lives up to its acclaim!
Just the idea of following the travels and travails of Captain James Cook, certainly one of the great explorers and exploiters of the entire world, put me in a traveling mood! And Tony Horwitz keep you moving - from his first voyage to his last and everywhere in between.
The subtitle says ...more

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May 21, 2018 thereadytraveller rated it really liked it

A wonderful book retracing Captain Cook's epic three voyages from the 18th century. Horwitz's Blue Latitudes providers plenty of historical context to Cook's earlier journey's, whilst also ensuring that his own are not overshadowed. Seamlessly switching between the two, Horwitz's well-researched book (eighteen months of which was spent travelling) finely balances both history and fun and is a great read for anyone with an interest in one of the world's most famous explorers.

While following in th ...more

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About Tony Horwitz

Tony Horwitz

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Date of Birth: 1958

Tony Horwitz was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author whose books include Blue Latitudes, Confederates In The Attic and Baghdad Without A Map. His most recent work, published in May 2019, is Spying on the South, which follows Frederick Law Olmsted's travels from the Potomac to the Rio Grande as an undercover correspondent in the 1850s.
Tony was also president of the S ...more

Books by Tony Horwitz

Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World

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Baghdad Without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia

Spying on the South: Travels with Frederick Law Olmsted in a Fractured Land

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“If there was an overriding message in his journals, it was that people, the world over, were alike in their essential nature—even if they ate their enemies, made love in public, worshipped idols, or, like Aborigines, cared not at all for material goods.” — 2 likes

“Cook,” the historian Bernard Smith speculates, “increasingly realised that wherever he went he was spreading the curses much more liberally than the benefits of European civilization.” — 1 likes

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