Voyages of Discovery is the story of the last great age of European sea exploration, when state-supported expeditions driven by both scientific and political motives set out to map the remaining unknown parts of the globe. Focusing on the voyages of the preeminent explorer, Captain James Cook, who commanded three round-the-world expeditions between 1768 and 1780, Lynne Withey illuminates the Pacific islanders' views of their "discoverers" as well.

Lynne Withey has taught history at the University of Iowa, Boston University, and the University of California at Berkeley. She is the author of Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams.

"The special strength of Withey's treatment of Cook's story, apart from her exceptional narrative skill, is to fix the voyages in the scientific, strategic and literary settings of their time."—Edwin M. Yoder, Jr., Washington Post Book World

"Cook emerges from Withey's vigorous presentation as a three-dimensional figure of heroic proportions. . . . The voyages, and their significance—for those involved and for us today—come alive in Withey's hands as a marvelously told adventure story."—Jonathan Sharp, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"In a time of growing worry about trade with the Pacific Rim countries, the story of the opening of the Pacific itself has on the face of it a certain interest. . . . [Withey] does a nice job examining the way in which Europeans' moral and romantic expectations colored their reactions to and interactions with the Pacific Islanders through her skillful quotation from and sensitive readings of the voyagers' own writings."—Caroline Rand Herron, The New York Times Book Review

Silver Medal, The Commonwealth Club of California