Publisher Description

Penguin Classics relaunchCook led three famous expeditions to the Pacific Ocean between 1768 and 1779. In voyages that ranged from the Antarctic circle to the Arctic Sea, Cook charted Australia and the whole coast of New Zealand, and brought back detailed descriptions of the natural history of the Pacific. Accounts based on Cook's journals were issued at the time, but it was not until this century that the original journals were published in Beaglehole's definitive edition. The JOURNALS tells the story of these voyages as Cook wanted it to be told, radiating the ambition, courage and skill which enabled him to carry out an unrivalled series of expeditions in dangerous waters.

Notes

The first and only abridged edition of Cook's journals, based on the four-volume Beaglehole edition. Maps, glossary, indexes and introductions to each of the three Pacific Ocean voyages made between 1768 and 1779. Reissue.

Author Biography

Captain James Cook (1728-79) was born in Yorkshire and after an apprenticeship at a shipowners, joined the navy in 1755. Philip Edwards (now retired) has been a professor of English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and the universities of Liverpool and Essex. He has written widely on Shakespeare and on the literature of voyages.

Table of Contents

List of maps
General Introduction
The First Voyage, 1768-1771
Voyage Maps
Introduction
Journal
The Second Voyage, 1772-1775
Voyage Maps
Introduction
Journal
The Third Voyage, 1776-1780
Voyage Maps
Introduction
Journal
Postscript: The Death of Cook
Glossary
Index of Persons
Index of Places
Location Maps

Kirkus UK Review

Taken from Beaglehole's definitive four volume edition, this abridged version of Captain Cook's journals is edited by Professor of English Literature at Trinity College at Dublin, Philip Edwards. Accounts based on Cook's journals appeared at the time of his voyages, but it wasn't until this century that J C Beaglehole produced his definitive version of the originals. Here, however, we have the story of the great man's travels in the Pacific from the horse's mouth or rather, as he intended - a self-proclaimed 'plain man', any style points lost are more than made up for in determination and pioneering spirit. This edition features maps and an assessment of the controversy surrounding his death in the Hawaiian Islands. (Kirkus UK)

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