Voyages of Discovery

About the Book

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.

About the Author

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.

Preface

Prologue: The Royal Society Plans a Voyage

I Foundations: Pacific Exploration Before Cook
1. The World Beyond Europe
2. Old Ideas and New Strategies
3. Paradise Discovered
4. Preparations

II The Discovery of Polynesia
5. Tahiti
6. Amateur Ethnographers
7. In Search of the Southern Continent
8. Homeward
9. Mr. Banks's Voyage

III Circumnavigating the Antarctic
10. To the Antarctic
11. Return to Tahiti
12. The Second Antarctic Summer
13. Island Hopping Across the Pacific
14. The Islands of Quiros
15. Mai

IV The Search for a Northwest Passage
16. The "Friendly Islands"
17. Mai Returns
18. To the Arctic
19. Kealakekua Bay
20. Cook the Hero

V Exploration and Empire: The Legacy of Cook's Voyages
21. Exploiting the Pacific: Convicts, Furs, and Breadfruit
22. The End of an Era: Vancouver in the Pacific

References
Index