Hampton Sides -- "The Wide Wide Sea"
Category: Literary
Date and Time for this Past Event
- Tuesday, Apr 23, 2024 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Location
Boulder Bookstore
1107 Pearl St
Details
Hampton Sides will speak about and sign his new book, "The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook," on Tuesday, April 23rd at 6:30pm, at Boulder Bookstore. Tickets for this event are $5 (plus a small processing fee) and are available on Eventbrite.
About the Book:
On July 12th, 1776, Captain James Cook, already lionized as the greatest explorer in British history, set off on his third voyage in his ship the HMS Resolution. Two-and-a-half years later, on a beach on the island of Hawaii, Cook was killed in a conflict with native Hawaiians. How did Cook, who was unique among captains for his respect for Indigenous peoples and cultures, come to that fatal moment?
Hampton Sides’ bravura account of Cook’s last journey both wrestles with Cook’s legacy and provides a thrilling narrative of the titanic efforts and continual danger that characterized exploration in the 1700s. Cook was renowned for his peerless seamanship, his humane leadership, and his dedication to science. Yet something was different on this last voyage. Cook became mercurial, resorting to the lash to enforce discipline, and led his two vessels into danger time and again. Uncharacteristically, he ordered violent retaliation for perceived theft on the part of native peoples. This may have had something to do with his secret orders, which were to chart and claim lands before Britain’s imperial rivals could, and to discover the fabled Northwest Passage. Whatever Cook’s intentions, his scientific efforts were the sharp edge of the colonial sword, and the ultimate effects of first contact were catastrophic for Indigenous people around the world.
At once a ferociously-paced story of adventure on the high seas and a searching examination of the complexities and consequences of the Age of Exploration, "The Wide Wide Sea" is a major work from one of our finest narrative nonfiction writers.
IMPORTANT TICKETING AND EVENT INFORMATION
*Tickets are $5 (plus a small processing fee).
*A coupon good for $5 off a copy of "The Wide Wide Sea," or a purchase on the day of the event is included with your ticket. You will receive this coupon at the event.
