Captain James Cook (1728-79) was born in Yorkshire and after an apprenticeship at a shipowners, joined the navy in 1755. Philip Edwards (now retired) has been a professor of English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and the universities of Liverpool and Essex. He has written widely on Shakespeare and on the literature of voyages.
Taken from Beaglehole's definitive four volume edition, this abridged version of Captain Cook's journals is edited by Professor of English Literature at Trinity College at Dublin, Philip Edwards. Accounts based on Cook's journals appeared at the time of his voyages, but it wasn't until this century that J C Beaglehole produced his definitive version of the originals. Here, however, we have the story of the great man's travels in the Pacific from the horse's mouth or rather, as he intended - a self-proclaimed 'plain man', any style points lost are more than made up for in determination and pioneering spirit. This edition features maps and an assessment of the controversy surrounding his death in the Hawaiian Islands. (Kirkus UK)