This vivid book retells the story of Captain Cook's great voyages in the South Seas, focusing on the encounters between the explorers and the island peoples they "discovered." While Cook and his men were initially confounded by the Polynesians, they were also curious. Cook and his crew soon formed friendships-and often more intimate relationships-with the islanders. The islanders, who initially were not certain if the Englishmen were even human, came to experiment with Western customs and in some cases joined the voyagers on their expeditions. But familiarity quickly bred contempt. Shipboard discipline was threatened by these new relationships, and the culture of the islands was also changed forever. Captain Cook, initially determined to act as an enlightened leader, saw his resolve falter during the third voyage. Amicable relations turned hostile, culminating in Cook's violent death on the shores of Hawaii. In this masterful account of Cook's voyages, Anne Salmond-a preeminent authority on the history of the south seas-reimagines two worlds that collided in the eighteenth century, and the enduring impact of that collision.

From brilliant young polymath Andrew Rader - an MIT-credentialled scientist, popular podcast host and SpaceX mission manager - an illuminating chronicle of exploration that spotlights humans' insatiable desire to continually push into new and uncharted territory, from civilisation's earliest days to current planning for interstellar travel. For the first time in history, the human species has the technology to destroy itself. But having developed that power, humans are also able to leave Earth and voyage into the vastness of space. After millions of years of evolution, we've arrived at the point where we can settle other worlds and begin the process of becoming multi-planetary. How did we get here? What does the future hold for us? Divided into four accessible sections, Beyond the Known examines major periods of discovery and rediscovery, from Classical Times, when Phoenicians, Persians and Greeks ventured forth; to The Age of European Exploration, which saw colonies sprout on nearly every continent; to The Era of Scientific Inquiry, when researchers developed brand new tools for mapping and travelling further; to Our Spacefaring Future, which unveils plans currently underway for settling other planets and, eventually, travelling to the stars. A Mission Manager at SpaceX with a light, engaging voice, Andrew Rader is at the forefront of space exploration. As a gifted historian, Rader, who has won global acclaim for his stunning breadth of knowledge, is singularly positioned to reveal the story of human exploration that is also the story of scientific achievement. Told with an infectious zeal for travelling beyond the known, Beyond the Known illuminates how very human it is to emerge from the cave and walk towards an infinitely expanding horizon.

In 1498 a young captain named Vasco da Gama sailed from Portugal, circumnavigated Africa, crossed the Indian Ocean, and discovered the sea route to the Indies and, with it, access to the fabled wealth of the East. It was the longest voyage ever undertaken at that time. With blood-red Crusader crosses emblazoned on their sails, the explorers arrived in the heart of the Muslim East in an era when the old hostilities between Christianity and Islam had risen to a new level of intensity. In two voyages that spanned six years, da Gama would fight a running sea battle that would ultimately change the fate of three continents.

The Last Crusade is an epic tale of spies, intrigue, and treachery--of bravado, brinkmanship, and confused, often comical collisions between cultures--offering a surprising new interpretation of the broad sweep of history.

The first part of his trilogy on the Spanish Empire, Hugh Thomas's Rivers of Gold brings the rise of Spain's global empire vividly to life, capturing the spirit of an ebullient age. Inspired by hopes of both riches and of converting native people to Christianity, the Spanish adventurers of the fifteenth century convinced themselves that an Earthly Paradise existed in the Caribbean. This is the story of the hundreds of conquistadors who set sail on the precarious journey across the Atlantic - taking with them wheat, the horse, the guitar and the wheel as well as guns, malaria and slaves - to create an empire that made Spain the envy of the world. 'Affirms Hugh Thomas's record as one of the most productive and wide-ranging historians of modern times' The New York Times 'Splendid ... bold and strong in its outlines, rich in fasinating details' Paul Johnson, Literary Review 'So steeped is he in the spirit of the time, so familiar with its people and places that we almost feel he must have been there at the time' Sunday Telegraph 'A vivid, dramatic and compelling narrative' Arthur Schlesinger, Jr 'As a historian, Thomas is master of the big picture ... Rivers of Gold sweeps us restlessly on' Jonathan Keates, Spectator 'An epic history of an extraordinary age' Michael Kerrigan, Scotsman Hugh Thomas is the author of, among other books, The Spanish Civil War (1962) which won the Somerset Maugham Award, Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes and the Fall of Old Mexico (1994), An Unfinished History of the World (1979) and The Slave Trade (1997). The second volume of his planned trilogy on the Spanish Empire, The Golden Age: The Spanish Empire of Charles V was published in 2011.

In 1869, Hayyim Habshush, a Yemeni Jew, accompanied the European orientalist Joseph Halevy on his archaeological tour of Yemen. Twenty years later, Habshush wrote A Vision of Yemen, a memoir of their travels, that provides a vivid account of daily life, religion, and politics. More than a simple travelogue, it is a work of trickster-tales, thick anthropological descriptions, and reflections on Jewish-Muslim relations. At its heart lies the fractious and intimate relationship between the Yemeni coppersmith and the "enlightened" European scholar and the collision between the cultures each represents. The book thus offers a powerful indigenous response to European Orientalism. This edition is the first English translation of Habshush's writings from the original Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew and includes an accessible historical introduction to the work. The translation maintains Habshush's gripping style and rich portrayal of the diverse communities and cultures of Yemen, offering a potent mixture of artful storytelling and cultural criticism, suffused with humor and empathy. Habshush writes about the daily lives of men and women, rich and poor, Jewish and Muslim, during a turbulent period of war and both Ottoman and European imperialist encroachment. With this translation, Alan Verskin recovers the lost voice of a man passionately committed to his land and people.

'They have left here today!' he calls to the others. When King puts his hand down above the ashes of the fire, it is to find it still hot. There is even a tiny flame flickering from the end of one log. They must have left just hours ago.' MELBOURNE, 20 AUGUST 1860. In an ambitious quest to be the first Europeans to cross the harsh Australian continent, the Victorian Exploring Expedition sets off, farewelled by 15,000 cheering well-wishers. Led by Robert O'Hara Burke, a brave man totally lacking in the bush skills necessary for his task; surveyor and meteorologist William Wills; and 17 others, the expedition took 20 tons of equipment carried on six wagons, 23 horses and 26 camels. Almost immediately plagued by disputes and sackings, the expeditioners battled the extremes of the Australian landscape and weather: its deserts, the boggy mangrove swamps of the Gulf, the searing heat and flooding rains. Food ran short and, unable to live off the land, the men nevertheless mostly spurned the offers of help from the local Indigenous people. In desperation, leaving the rest of the party at the expedition's depot on Coopers Creek, Burke, Wills and John King made a dash for the Gulf in December 1860. Bad luck and bad management would see them miss by just hours a rendezvous back at Coopers Creek, leaving them stranded in the wilderness with practically no supplies. Only King survived to tell the tale. Yet, despite their tragic fates, the names of Burke and Wills have become synonymous with perseverance and bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. They live on in Australia's history - and their story remains immediate and compelling.

Relive all the thrills and adventure of Alan Moorehead's classic bestseller The White Nile -- the daring exploration of the Nile River in the second half of the nineteenth century, which was at that time the most mysterious and impenetrable region on earth. Capturing in breathtaking prose the larger-than-life personalities of such notable figures as Stanley, Livingstone, Burton and many others, The White Nile remains a seminal work in tales of discovery and escapade, filled with incredible historical detail and compelling stories of heroism and drama.

In 1913, an expedition was sent to the Arctic, funded by the American Museum of Natural History, the American Geographical Society and the University of Illinois. Its purpose was twofold: to discover whether an archipelago called Crocker Land-reportedly spotted by an earlier explorer in 1906-actually existed; and to engage in scientific research in the Arctic. When explorers discovered that Crocker Land did not exist, they instead pursued their research, made a number of important discoveries and documented the region's indigenous inhabitants and natural habitat. Their return to America was delayed by the difficulty of engaging a relief ship, and by the danger of German submarines in Arctic waters during the World War I.

Travelling the circumference of the truly gigantic Pacific, Simon Winchester tells the story of the world's largest body of water, and - in matters economic, political and military - the ocean of the future. The Pacific is a world of tsunamis and Magellan, of the Bounty mutiny and the Boeing Company. It is the stuff of the towering Captain Cook and his wide-ranging network of exploring voyages, Robert Louis Stevenson and Admiral Halsey. It is the place of Paul Gauguin and the explosion of the largest-ever American atomic bomb, on Bikini atoll, in 1951. It has an astonishing recent past, an uncertain present and a hugely important future. The ocean and its peoples are the new lifeblood, fizz and thrill of America - which draws so many of its minds and so much of its manners from the sea - while the inexorable rise of the ancient center of the world, China, is a fixating fascination. The presence of rogue states - North Korea most notoriously today - suggest that the focus of the responsible world is shifting away from the conventional post-war obsessions with Europe and the Middle East, and towards a new set of urgencies. Navigating the newly evolving patterns of commerce and trade, the world's most violent weather and the fascinating histories, problems and potentials of the many Pacific states, Simon Winchester's thrilling journey is a grand depiction of the future ocean.

In 1869, Hayyim Habshush, a Yemeni Jew, accompanied the European orientalist Joseph Halévy on his archaeological tour of Yemen. Twenty years later, Habshush wrote A Vision of Yemen, a memoir of their travels, that provides a vivid account of daily life, religion, and politics. More than a simple travelogue, it is a work of trickster-tales, thick anthropological descriptions, and reflections on Jewish–Muslim relations. At its heart lies the fractious and intimate relationship between the Yemeni coppersmith and the "enlightened" European scholar and the collision between the cultures each represents. The book thus offers a powerful indigenous response to European Orientalism. This edition is the first English translation of Habshush's writings from the original Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew and includes an accessible historical introduction to the work. The translation maintains Habshush's gripping style and rich portrayal of the diverse communities and cultures of Yemen, offering a potent mixture of artful storytelling and cultural criticism, suffused with humor and empathy. Habshush writes about the daily lives of men and women, rich and poor, Jewish and Muslim, during a turbulent period of war and both Ottoman and European imperialist encroachment. With this translation, Alan Verskin recovers the lost voice of a man passionately committed to his land and people.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes has climbed the Eiger and Mount Everest. He's crossed both Poles on foot. He's been a member of the SAS and fought a bloody guerrilla war in Oman. And yet he confesses that his fear of heights is so great that he'd rather send his wife up a ladder to clean the gutters than do it himself. In Fear, the world's greatest explorer delves into his own experiences to try and explain what fear is, how it happens and how he's overcome it so successfully. He examines key moments from history where fear played an important part in the outcome of a great event. He shows us how the brain perceives fear, how that manifests itself in us, and how we can transform our perceptions. With an enthralling combination of story-telling, research and personal accounts of his own struggles to overcome fear, Sir Ranulph Fiennes sheds new light on one of humanity's strongest emotions.

The true story about a shipwreck discovery, exciting explorations, broken alliances, and returning a lost piece of Alaskan history. Since its sinking in 1860 while transporting a valuable cargo of ice, the Kad’yak ship had remained submerged underwater and faded in Alaska’s memory, covered by the legend of an experienced but perhaps rusty sailor and a broken promise to a saint. At the time the ship had been under command of the well-recognized Captain Illarion Arkhimandritov, who had sailed in Alaskan waters for years. It seemed a simple task when he was asked to placate superstitions and honor the late Father Herman, or Saint Herman, on his next visit to Kodiak Island. But Arkhimandritov failed to keep his promise, and shortly thereafter the Kad’yak met its demise in the very waters the captain should have been most familiar with—leaving just the mast above the water in the shape of the cross, right in front of the saint’s grave. Presumed gone or else destroyed, it wasn’t until 143 years later that the Kad’yak was found. In this riveting memoir, scientist Bradley Stevens tells all about the incredible discovery and recovery of the ship—deciphering the sea captain’s muddled journal, digging through libraries and other scientists’ notes, boating over and around the wreck site in circles. Through careful documentation, interviews, underwater photography, and historical research, Stevens recounts the process of finding the Kad’yak, as well as the tumultuous aftermath of bringing the legendary ship’s story to the public—from the formed collaborations to torn partnerships to the legal battles. An important part of Alaska’s history told from Stevens’s modern-day sea expedition, The Ship, the Saint, and the Sailor reveals one of the oldest known shipwreck sites in Alaska discovered and its continuing story today.

Long before GPS, Google Earth, and global transit, humans traveled vast distances using only environmental clues and simple instruments. John Huth asks what is lost when modern technology substitutes for our innate capacity to find our way. Encyclopedic in breadth, weaving together astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, and ethnography, The Lost Art of Finding Our Way puts us in the shoes, ships, and sleds of early navigators for whom paying close attention to the environment around them was, quite literally, a matter of life and death. Haunted by the fate of two young kayakers lost in a fogbank off Nantucket, Huth shows us how to navigate using natural phenomena-the way the Vikings used the sunstone to detect polarization of sunlight, and Arab traders learned to sail into the wind, and Pacific Islanders used underwater lightning and "read" waves to guide their explorations. Huth reminds us that we are all navigators capable of learning techniques ranging from the simplest to the most sophisticated skills of direction-finding. Even today, careful observation of the sun and moon, tides and ocean currents, weather and atmospheric effects can be all we need to find our way. Lavishly illustrated with nearly 200 specially prepared drawings, Huth's compelling account of the cultures of navigation will engross readers in a narrative that is part scientific treatise, part personal travelogue, and part vivid re-creation of navigational history. Seeing through the eyes of past voyagers, we bring our own world into sharper view.

During Charles Darwin's 1831-6 voyage on the Beagle, his on-board library included 'Cook's voyages' (the edition is not specified). This illustrated 1821 edition, in seven volumes, is representative of the versions available in the early nineteenth century. Volumes 1 and 2 cover the first Pacific voyage of James Cook (1728-79), the object of which was to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from Tahiti. The text replicates the version published in 1773 by John Hawkesworth (1715-73) as part of a collection of 'Voyages ... in the Southern Hemisphere', which interwove Cook's account with botanical and ethnographical notes by the ship's naturalist, Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820). The journals were only published separately much later: Cook's in 1893 (ed. Wharton) and Banks' in 1896 (ed. Hooker); both are also available. Volume 2 focuses on New Zealand, Australia, and the explorers' return via Indonesia.

During Charles Darwin's 1831-6 voyage on the Beagle, his on-board library included 'Cook's voyages' (the edition is not specified). This illustrated 1821 edition, in seven volumes, is representative of the versions available in the early nineteenth century. Volumes 3 and 4 cover Cook's second voyage (1772-5), a key objective of which was to look for a continent in the Southern Ocean. The explorers sailed to 71 degrees south, within the Antarctic Circle, encountering stormy weather and icebergs, albatrosses and storm petrels. On this voyage, the ship's naturalists were Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg (1754-94), who is credited here as co-author. Volume 3 contains accounts of the Antarctic in December 1772 and December 1773, Tasmania (by Captain Furneaux, whose ship had become separated from the Resolution for several weeks), and the inhabitants of Tahiti, Easter Island with its giant statues, Tonga, and New Zealand.

During Charles Darwin's 1831-6 voyage on the Beagle, his on-board library included 'Cook's voyages' (the edition is not specified). This illustrated 1821 edition, in seven volumes, is representative of the versions available in the early nineteenth century. Volumes 3 and 4 cover Cook's second voyage (1772-5), a key objective of which was to look for a continent in the Southern Ocean. The explorers sailed to 71 degrees South, within the Antarctic Circle, encountering stormy weather and icebergs, albatrosses and storm petrels. On this voyage, the ship's naturalists were Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg (1754-94), who is credited here as co-author. Volume 4 describes the flora, fauna and people of the New Hebrides and New Caledonia, the uninhabited Norfolk Island, and the voyage home via Cape Horn and Tierra del Fuego. The appendix contains a vocabulary of the Tahitian language as spoken in the Society Islands.

During Charles Darwin's 1831-6 voyage on the Beagle, his on-board library included 'Cook's voyages' (the edition is not specified). This illustrated 1821 edition, in seven volumes, is representative of the versions available in the early nineteenth century. Volumes 5-7 cover the third Pacific voyage of James Cook (1728-79), which began in July 1776 and ended in his death in Hawaii. Volume 5 begins with the orders outlining the main objective of the third voyage, which was to search for the Pacific end of the North-West Passage for two summers. They emphasise the importance of good relations with other colonial powers, notably Spain, and of periodic recuperation in harbour. This volume contains Cook's journal of the voyage up to July 1777, via the Cape, Tasmania, and New Zealand to Tahiti and Tonga, and includes detailed descriptions of Pacific Islander customs together with several word-lists.

During Charles Darwin's 1831-6 voyage on the Beagle, his on-board library included 'Cook's voyages' (the edition is not specified). This illustrated 1821 edition, in seven volumes, is representative of the versions available in the early nineteenth century. Volumes 5-7 cover the third Pacific voyage of James Cook (1728-79), which began in July 1776 and ended in his death in Hawaii. Its objective was to search for the Pacific end of the North-West Passage. Volume 6 contains Cook's journal of the voyage from July 1777 to January 1779. From Tahiti, he sailed via Hawaii to Nootka Sound, and reached the Bering Strait in June 1778. The expedition then explored the Aleutian Islands and the Alaskan coast, reaching 70 degrees north, but by late August fog and snow meant the mission had to be abandoned for that year. The ships sailed south to Kamchatka and then back to Hawaii.

This important collection, published in two volumes in 1770-1 and reissued here in one, contains accounts of notable Iberian and Dutch voyages in the southern hemisphere, translated and edited by Alexander Dalrymple (1737-1808). Hydrographer to the Admiralty from 1795, Dalrymple produced this work as part of his research into the belief at the time that there existed an undiscovered continent in the South Pacific. These volumes were intended to demonstrate the knowledge of the region to date. The first volume covers sixteenth-century Spanish and Portuguese voyages, beginning with Ferdinand Magellan and including those of Juan Fernandez, Alvaro de Mendana y Neira and Pedro Fernandes de Queiros. The second volume contains the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Dutch voyages of Jacob Le Mair and Willem Schouten, Abel Tasman and Jacob Roggeveen. This volume also contains a chronological table of discoveries in the southern hemisphere since 1501.

In the years leading up to Charles Darwin's famous voyage on the Beagle, the ship and its captain Robert Fitzroy (1805-65) had participated in an expedition to the desolate southern coast of South America. Volume 1 of this three-volume work, published in 1839, describes that 1826-30 expedition, while Volumes 2 and 3 cover the second voyage. Compiled by Robert Fitzroy (1805-65), captain of the Beagle from 1828, Volume 1 is based on the journals of Phillip Parker King (1791-56), the expedition's commander, whose account of his earlier survey of Australia is also reissued. Tasked with surveying the coast from Montevideo to Cape Horn and north to Chiloe, and 'collecting and preserving specimens of ... natural history', the expedition spent its first two field seasons around Tierra del Fuego, enduring hunger, scurvy and severe weather. It reached Chiloe in 1829, and returned to England a year later.

In the years leading up to Charles Darwin's famous voyage on the Beagle, the ship and its captain Robert Fitzroy (1805-65) had participated in an expedition to the desolate southern coast of South America. This three-volume work, published in 1839, describes both voyages. Volume 2 is Fitzroy's account of his voyage with Darwin. He describes how the Hydrographer of the Admiralty, Captain Beaufort (founder of The Nautical Magazine, also reissued), approved the proposal that 'some well educated and scientific person' should join the expedition: Darwin was chosen. Fitzroy's descriptions of the locations visited and their natural history provide a fascinating counterpoint to Darwin's own account of the voyage, the first published version of which makes up Volume 3. Fitzroy refers regularly to the geographical and scientific books that he and Darwin kept in the ship's library. The majority of these are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.

Living in a small reed hut within a traditional village on Taveuni, the "garden isle" of Fiji, deep in the South Seas. Studying the language, how words and grammar are brought to life through the manner in which they are reflected in social behavior. Established conventions had to be carefully observed, including rules concerning how to behave in the presence of a chief. Unknowingly, the author broke many of these. But he was forgiven, adopted into a family, and accepted as a (rather unusual) member of the community. There were five cyclones that season, of terrifying strength. Daily living was at one level idyllic, with fish and taro and breadfruit. But village life pulsated with factions and feuds. These were resolved by the stern but benevolent chief (the author's `big uncle') whose word was law. Cannibalism has been abandoned, reluctantly, at the behest of the new Christian God. But olden-days religion survived beneath the new facade, traditional priests dancing naked on the beach beneath a full moon. Surrealistic legends were recounted, one of which told of a princess born as a bird; she was murdered and thus became a comely maiden (but the murderer had to be cooked and eaten).

Originally published in 1920, this book contains a biography of William Bolts, one of 'the most remarkable civilian adventurers of the eighteenth century in the territories of the East India Company'. Hallward paints a vivid picture of Bolts as one of the many destabilising European agents operating in the Far East at a time of great colonial tension as well as a shrewd merchant. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in colonial India and European expansionism.

Napoleon's military expedition to Egypt in 1798 famously included various scientists and savants, among whom was the author of this three-volume work, published in French in 1802 and in English in 1803. Vivant Denon (1747-1825) was a diplomat under the Ancien Regime, but survived the Revolution thanks to the patronage of the painter David, and met Napoleon through the salon of Josephine de Beauharnais. He accompanied the army, excavating and sketching, sometimes even during battles. The publication of this lively, illustrated account is regarded as the chief stimulus for the so-called 'Egyptian Revival' style of architecture, interior design and even costume. Volume 2 finds Denon travelling down the Nile into Upper Egypt, and fretting because General Desaix, his mind focused on an approaching battle, would not give him an escort to visit Abydos. This disappointment was compensated for when the army arrived at the marvellous ruins of Thebes.