Product Description

This beautifully illustrated book gives a vivid account of life on board the Endeavour and its epic journey into the unknown between 1768 and 1771. Captain James Cook's voyage resulted in the mapping of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. According to the British government -- who wished to deceive the world about its true purpose -- it was merely a scientific expedition to observe the transit of the planet Venus across the Sun, a measurement that could help establish the scale of the universe itself. The real purpose was to find Terra Australis. Peter Aughton's narrative brings to life the main characters. The reader feels as if he is with Cook, Joseph Banks and his sailors as their ship encounters storm, tempest and the delights of the South Sea Islands.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #350823 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Synopsis
This beautifully illustrated book gives a vivid account of life on board the Endeavour and its epic journey into the unknown between 1768 and 1771. Captain James Cook's voyage resulted in the mapping of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. According to the British government -- who wished to deceive the world about its true purpose -- it was merely a scientific expedition to observe the transit of the planet Venus across the Sun, a measurement that could help establish the scale of the universe itself. The real purpose was to find Terra Australis. Peter Aughton's narrative brings to life the main characters. The reader feels as if he is with Cook, Joseph Banks and his sailors as their ship encounters storm, tempest and the delights of the South Sea Islands.

About the Author
Peter Aughton lectures at the University of the West of England and in the 1970s he worked on the Concorde supersonic airliner. He is a Member of the British Computer Society and an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. He is married with two children.

Customer Reviews

Endeavour
In the jacket notes, Peter Aughton is described as "a story teller who can turn the world of science and navigation into food for the imagination." Excusing the repeated and obvious "Cook-book" puns, there is no truer summary of an historical work.
Drawing largely from Cook's own diaries in his "Voyages", Aughton turns historical event in to an exciting and illuminating narrative with the relationship between Cook and his on board botanist Banks an obvious influence for Patrick O'Brien's characters Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. As one of the last great goals for human kind, the great southern continent remained undiscovered by Europeans in the 1700s. As scientific viewpoints added weight to the belief that the balance and tidal patterns of the globe indicated the presence of a great antipodean landmass, the British Admiralty sent the largely inexperienced James Cook off around to the opposite side of the earth on board the Endeavour in one of the most exciting voyages of discovery in all of human history. On the pretence that the voyage was undertaken exclusively to study the transit of Venus across the sun, the fears of the French in particular were allayed whilst Cook and his crew experienced storms, scurvy and setbacks yet also some great discoveries and the opportunity for the artist Sidney Parkinson to inscribe some of the first recorded images of flora and fauna from the other side of the world.
Negotiating, with great difficulty, the Strait Le Maire and Cape Horn at the Southern tip of South America, Cook's and Bank's adventures in the Pacific are told with enormous vitality by Aughton. The reader almost wills the crew onto the Australian continent as they first encounter the now-called Cook Islands, make landfall at Poverty Bay and fully map both islands of New Zealand and, finally, sight the Australian continent (New Holland at this stage) at Point Hicks on April 19th 1770. The disasters which nearly destroy the ship and its crew at the Great Barrier Reef are painfully overcome until the book reaches its poignant conclusion - with Aughton's clear admiration for the achievements of the crew in full flow at this stage.
In summary, this is a wonderful way for those who are uninitiated in historical narratives to imbibe exploration together with science, astronomy, natural history and linguistics. For the seasoned reader, Cook's achievements alone render this work a thoroughly accessible version of his own diaries.

FEAST ON THIS COOK BOOK
.

This book has to be one of the most gorgeously produced non-fiction titles in this genre you will see for a long while. As a physical object, Aughton's "Endeavour" is superb - from the quality of the paper, to the typography, to the richness of the reproductions. The design and layout is novel, imaginative and very attractive. Nota bene - this book is printed in Italy - a provenance for all that is fine in the craft and style of the printing industry.

Content wise, you will find most of this material elsewhere, but Aughton's compilation is what makes it such a special work. An illustration of Mataroa Island in New Zealand drawn by one of Cook's companions shows prominent Maori fortifications and villages. This is the site where Cook claimed NZ for the British Crown. Go there today and it has been reclaimed by forest and is home to the endangered SaddleBack bird. It is fascinating to see what has happened in 232 years.

Aughton provides an insightful interpretation as to why Cook put so much time and effort into exploring, mapping and "discovering" the East Coast of Australia (pka New Holland). Aughton notes that after completing his successful astronomical mission to Tahiti, Cook opened his secret orders from the Admiralty. "Head west along the 40th Parallel until you reach Terra Australis Incognita". Beating their way into the teeth of the Roaring Forties winds took a toll on the Endeavour. When he reached Australia, he spent months trying to find a suitable place to careen, refit and re-supply his ship. Aughton implies that the howling westerlies of 40 degrees south may have led indirectly to the British colonisation of Australia. The alternative of course is that Aussies could have been francophones, living in Terre Napoleon.

"Endeavour" is a beautiful Cook book. A feast for the eyes as well as the mind - but keep it away from the kitchen.

A COOK BOOK THAT IS A FEAST FOR THE EYES
.

This book has to be one of the most gorgeously produced non-fiction titles in this historic genre you will see for a long while. As a physical object, Aughton's "Endeavour" is superb - from the quality of the paper, to the typography, to the richness of the reproductions. The design and layout is novel, imaginative and very attractive. I note that the book is printed in Italy - a provenance for all that is fine in the craft and style of the printing industry.

Content wise, you will find most of this material elsewhere, but Aughton's compilation is what makes it such a special work. An illustration of Mataroa Island in New Island drawn by one of Cook's companions shows prominent Maori fortifications and villages. This is the site where Cook claimed NZ for the British Crown. Go there today and it has been reclaimed by forest and is home to the endangered SaddleBack bird. It is fascinating to see what has happened in 232 years.

Aughton provides an insightful interpretation as to why Cook put so much time and effort into exploring, mapping and "discovering" the East Coast of Australia (pka New Holland). Aughton notes that after completing his successful astronomical mission to Tahiti, Cook opened his secret orders from the Admiralty. "Head west along the 40th Parallel until you reach Terra Australis Incognita". Beating their way into the teeth of the Roaring Forties winds took a toll on the Endeavour. When he reached Australia, he spent months trying to find a suitable place to careen, refit and re-supply his ship. Aughton implies that the howling westerlies of 40 degrees south may have led indirectly to the British colonisation of Australia. The alternative of course is that Aussies could have been francophones, living in Terre Napoleon.

"Endeavour" is a beautiful Cook book. A feast for the eyes as well as the mind, but too good to be read in the kitchen.