Captain James Cook is a key figure in the British story. Renowned for his three great voyages of exploration and discovery in the Pacific, including the Antarctic and Arctic, his technical foundation, laid out in maps, surveys and other navigational activities, allowed the rapid assimilation of this region into the global family. Often falsely named as the discoverer of Australia, he did map its east coast and produced detailed charts of New Zealand that stand up to modern day scrutiny.

Cook learned his seafaring trade hauling coal down the east coast of England, gave it all up to move from the Merchant to the Royal Navy, effectively starting at the bottom again, and provided key navigational and mapping support to Wolfe’s campaign against the French Canadians in the Seven Years War and at the fall of Quebec.

There is no doubt that Cook was a master mariner, perhaps the master mariner in recorded history. His first two voyages were triumphs of seamanship and delivered beyond Admiralty expectations. It was during the third voyage that Cook unravelled, started making decisions that went against him and ultimately paid for his stubbornness and his poor relationship with his officers and crew with his life. Beaten to death in the shallows off Tahiti his body was quickly dismembered by the natives and there was precious little to include in the burial at sea.

Frank McLynn has written a great biography of Cook and pays special attention to the details of the voyages and the great achievements that Cook made. He attacks the social and political structures of the Pacific islands that Cook visited and gives a good picture of the clash of cultures that ensued. A great deal of primary sources exist for the voyages themselves and McLynn uses these, along with key secondary sources - particularly J. C. Beaglehole’s ‘The Life of Captain Cook’ and his edited versions of Cook’s journals - effectively. Little is known of the man himself and his private life. It is as if all his energy went into his naval life with nothing left outside. This leaves Cook as a slightly hollow figure and I found it difficult to agree with McLynn’s views about Cook’s ambition and his personality.

McLynn has a firm grasp on the technicalities of sailing, so best to mug up on 18th century rigging and sails to get the full effect here! He also has a tendency to use the widest vocabulary possible, so sometimes understanding the meaning without resort to a dictionary can be aleatory. ( )