These days, international travel is relatively easy. All one needs to travel across the world is a bit of money, a passport, and an airplane ticket. The traveller is moved quickly and safely around the globe with relatively little exertion. Today's traveler neither know of or experience the challengers faced by the voyagers and discoverers of the past. Horowitz acquaints us with these difficulties in this book where he retraces the voyages of perhaps the greatest of England's navigator and explorer, James Cook. Horwitz recaptures the magnificence of Cook's achievements by retracing cooks voyages. He traces his rise from his lowly status as an impoverished farm laborer to his rise through the ranks of the Royal Navy, his voyages pf exploration, and his veneration as a great navigator. To convey the magnitude of Cook's achievements, he joins the crew of a replica of Cook's famous ship Endeavor to show the limited equipment Cook had to achieve what he did. He travels to many of the places discovered by cook, and armed with Cook's log book and other references, sees what Cook saw. Horwitz also tries to put into himself into Cook's position and tries to assess Cook's legacy, particularly in the island nations he discovered in the South Pacific.
This book is written by a fan of Cook. He likens Cook to a real-life "olden day" equivalent of Star Trek's Captain Kirk; he went where no one had gone before. The book demonstrates Cook greatness by giving a contemporary storytelling of Cook's achievements. By travelling to the major places Cook visited, Horwitz conveys to the modern reader the magnitude of Cook's achievements.
This book succeeds in conveying Cook's greatness, without slipping into iconography. Horwitz uses the right balance of reverence, balance, reflection and humour to made Cook's achievements accessible to the modern reader. This book is an entertaining and enjoyable read; its so good that you should read it more than once so you can double your enjoyment.
