Discoveries : The Voyages of Captain Cook

Cook's great voyages marked the end of an era in world history. As he sailed into Hawaii in January 1778 he made contact with the last of the human civilizations to grow up independently of the rest of the world. But equally for the Polynesians and Melanesians of the Pacific, Cook's arrival in their midst merely marked a further (if disastrous) twist in diverse histories already many centuries old. In this book, Cook's journeys are re-imagined, attempting to leave behind (or master) our later preoccupations to let us see what Cook and his associates experienced and what the societies he encountered experienced - from the Beothuks of Newfoundland to the Tongans of the Friendly Islands. Nicholas Thomas draws on 20 years' research into Pacific art, culture and history to explore the drama of Cook's expeditions. Central to the story is Cook's curiosity. A brilliant map-maker even before he entered the Pacific, Cook would journey emotionally and intellectually into unknown waters and meet people on beaches who were used to voyaging themselves. Tahitians, Maori and Hawaiians would position this enigmatic visitor on their own maps, in ways he could neither understand nor control. Their meetings would be sometimes rewarding, sometimes dangerous, always strangely rich and unpredictable.