This is a fictionalised account of the last two weeks of Captain James Cook’s life written in two parts: The events leading up to his murder by the Hawaiians are contained in Part One. The second part deals with attempts by his successor and friend to retrieve his remains for Christian burial. The book is based on authentic research and facts.
It is February 1779 Captain James Cook is on his last voyage to the Pacific. This is a fascinating fictionalised account of the sad events leading up to the demise of Captain James Cook. Although written as a novel the content has been thoroughly researched from the officers journals of Cook's last voyage of discovery to the Pacific, and in this respect is an authentic account of the events leading up to his tragic death at the hands of the Hawaiians. The names used in this work are of people who actually sailed on the two ships of this expedition although the actions attributed to these individuals have been somewhat embroidered by the imagination.
Great effort has been applied to put across Cook’s humane and compassionate understanding of his fellow man – particularly in the eighteenth century British Navy – this endeared him to the brutish men under his charge. Without doubt Cook was one of the greatest seamen and navigators the world had ever produced. His discoveries in the Pacific opened up this vast ocean to the western world so that it was no longer a mystery for the armchair theorists to speculate over.
Born in Bridlington East Yorkshire in June 1933 the youngest of four children, my father was a self employed painter and decorator. I attended school there from age four until 1939 when my father, fearing a threat of an invasion by German forces moved the family to Manchester. This has always seemed to be an odd move to me as Manchester was a prime target for German bombing raids. However, at age six one doesn’t question an adult’s motives. After two years the family moved back to the relative safety of the coast, although the town was still being bombed. Surviving the war years the newly elected Labour Government made provisions for further education for those young people of my age. Taking advantage of this, I moved to the art college in Hull as a day pupil with the aim to study pottery design, but this only lasted a year as my real wish was to go to sea for a career, much to my father’s anger, as he had designs for me to work for him as my brother had done, I enrolled at the Nautical College, in Hull. In 1950 I [...]
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