Captain Cook

Walter Besant (1836 - 1901)

James Cook (1728-1779), British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy was the son of a farm laborer. Apprenticed to a grocer, he ran away to sea. He saw hard service in the Baltic as a merchant seaman, while applying himself to the study of mathematics, navigation, and astronomy. In 1755 he volunteered for the Royal Navy, working his way up to captain. This little biography by Walter Besant, chronicles Cook's three voyages of discovery and his violent death in Hawaii. Cook replaced vague mythology with accurate observations of people and places, animals and plants. Of his achievements Besant writes, "We seek St. Brendan's Island and Terra Australis Incognita; and we find New Zealand and Cape Horn, the Continent of Australia, and the great Pacific Ocean, studded with islands as the firmament is studded by the stars." (Pamela Nagami, M.D.),

Genre(s): Biography & Autobiography, Early Modern, Exploration

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Ch. 1: Birth and Education, Pt. 1 Pamela Nagami
00:17:35
Play 02 Ch. 1: Birth and Education, Pt. 2 Pamela Nagami
00:13:07
Play 03 Ch. 2: Before the Mast, Pt. 1 Pamela Nagami
00:08:52
Play 04 Ch. 2: Before the Mast, Pt. 2 Pamela Nagami
00:08:00
Play 05 Ch. 3: In the Royal Navy, Pt. 1 Pamela Nagami
00:19:33
Play 06 Ch. 3: In the Royal Navy, Pt. 2 Pamela Nagami
00:12:33
Play 07 Ch. 4: The Great Unknown Ocean Pamela Nagami
00:21:25
Play 08 Ch. 5: Cook's Three Predecessors Pamela Nagami
00:18:23
Play 09 Ch. 6: Cook's First Voyage, Pt. 1 Pamela Nagami
00:16:28
Play 10 Ch. 6: Cook's First Voyage, Pt. 2 Pamela Nagami
00:13:53
Play 11 Ch. 7: A Breathing Space Pamela Nagami
00:13:00
Play 12 Ch. 8: The Second Voyage, Pt. 1 Pamela Nagami
00:18:51
Play 13 Ch. 8: The Second Voyage, Pt. 2 Pamela Nagami
00:19:15
Play 14 Ch. 9: Last Stay at Home Pamela Nagami
00:12:23
Play 15 Ch. 10: The Third Voyage, Pt. 1 Pamela Nagami
00:14:50
Play 16 Ch. 10: The Third Voyage, Pt. 2 Pamela Nagami
00:14:14
Play 17 Ch. 10: The Third Voyage, Pt. 3 Pamela Nagami
00:16:08
Play 18 Ch. 10: The Third Voyage, Pt. 4 Pamela Nagami
00:20:53
Play 19 Ch. 11: His Death, Pt. 1 Pamela Nagami
00:08:07
Play 20 Ch. 11: His Death, Pt. 2 Pamela Nagami
00:13:50
Play 21 Ch. 11: His Death, Pt. 3 Pamela Nagami
00:21:39
Play 22 Ch. 11: His Death, Pt. 4 Pamela Nagami
00:16:55
Play 23 Ch. 12: The End of the Voyage Pamela Nagami
00:04:01
Play 24 Ch. 13: The Ship's Company Pamela Nagami
00:16:23
Play 25 Ch. 14: The Last Pamela Nagami
00:14:42