Captain James Cook's three epic journeys between 1768 and 1779 were the last great voyages of discovery.Cook explored more of the earth's surface than anyonein history, and introduced the West to an unknown worldof taboo and tattoo, of cannibalism and ritual sex. Pulitzer Prize-winner Tony Horwitz vividly recounts Cook's adventures, and experiences some of them firsthand.He works as a sailor aboard a replica of Cook's ship,meets Miss Tahiti and the King of Tonga, and explores the captain's legacy across today's globe...

Captain James Cook's three epic journeys between 1768 and 1779 were the last great voyages of discovery.Cook explored more of the earth's surface than anyonein history, and introduced the West to an unknown worldof taboo and tattoo, of cannibalism and ritual sex. Pulitzer Prize-winner Tony Horwitz vividly recounts Cook's adventures, and experiences some of them firsthand.He works as a sailor aboard a replica of Cook's ship,meets Miss Tahiti and the King of Tonga, and explores the captain's legacy across today's globe: from Bora-Bora to the Bering Sea, from the Great Barrier Reef to Savage Island, from Cook's birthplace in Yorkshire to the beach where he died in Hawaii. Poignant, probing and exhilarating, Into the Blue brings to life a man and a mission that indelibly marked the world we know today.

PROLOGUE: The Distance Traveled

1 PACIFIC NORTHWEST: One Week Before the Mast

2 TAHITI: Sic Transit Venus

3 TO BORA BORA: Sold a Pup

4 NEW ZEALAND: Warriors, Still

5 BOTANY BAY: In the Pure State of Nature

6 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF: Wrecked

7 HOMEWARD BOUND: The Hospital Ship

8 SAVAGE ISLAND: The Hunt for Red Banana

9 TONGA: Where Time Begins, and Goes Back

10 LONDON: Shipping Out, Again

11 ALASKA: Outside Men

12 HAWAII: The Last Island

13 KEALAKEKUA BAY: A Bad Day on Black Rock

14 EPILOGUE: A Period to Fits Labours

NOTES ON SOURCES

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INDEX