Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 2 PM
From New York Times bestselling author Hampton Sides, comes an epic account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook’s death in Hawaii, and left a complex and controversial legacy still debated to this day. Placitas Community Library is excited to announce that on August 10, Hampton Sides will share his new work, The Wide Wide Sea. This work of narrative non-fiction is 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.
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-–the famed naturalist Joseph Banks accompanied him on his first voyage, and Cook has been called one of the most important figures of the Age of Enlightenment. He was also deeply interested in the native people he encountered. In fact, his stated mission was to return a Tahitian man, Mai, who had become the toast of London, to his home islands. On previous expeditions, Cook mapped huge swaths of the Pacific, including the east coast of Australia, and initiated first European contact with numerous peoples. He treated his crew well, and endeavored to learn about the societies he encountered with curiosity and without judgment.
HAMPTON SIDES is best-known for his gripping non-fiction adventure stories set in war or depicting epic expeditions of exploration. He is the author of the bestselling narrative histories Ghost Soldiers, Blood and Thunder, Hellhound On His Trail, In the Kingdom of Ice, and On Desperate Ground. Please join us to welcome him to Placitas on Saturday August 10th at 2pm at the Placitas Community Library.
Story by Anne Frost.
