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Summary: Follow Cook & History to Exotic Places with a Social Update
Review: Horwitz takes a historian's appreciation for Cook into an opportunity to travel and see the sights that Cook saw in the Pacific traveling first on a replica of the Endeavor, Cook's first Pacific ship, then by small boat, plane, ferry and on land by car and by foot. Horwitz provides a historical telling of Cook utilizing his actual logs, diaries of shipmates, and noted biographers. Horwitz tells the story of Cook's travels and historical events as he traverses the globe to the sites that Cook visited in three separate Pacific voyages. The best part of the book are his telling of what Cook saw and did at each site but also Horwitz's critical analysis of these exotic places as they appear today in contrast to 225 years ago. Horwitz asks natives today what they know about Cook and he gets an updated perspective from the populations unique to each place. In addition, Horwitz tries to walk and stand in the same places that Cook did. In this way, you get a great feel for what Cook went through in his travels starting with Horwitz's week long stay on the Endeavor replica as a crew member that worked hours and assignments similar to the original crew. Although, the Endeavor featured modern and safer bathrooms and kitchens, the grueling work requirements, hours, lack of sleep, storms and sleeping in hammocks wedged between other mates of various sizes gave the reader an appreciation for what Cook's sailors went through on 2 ' 3 year voyages. Horwitz's description is somewhat startling and amusing as he quotes an individual stating that the 'best thing about Tahiti are the post cards'. His humorous and hard drinking Aussie companion describes that main city in Tahiti as 'being built by unemployable architects'. The poorly constructed building, the extreme heat, black sand (there is no white sand), insects and the care free or careless lifestyle of the Tahitians does not sound attractive. In addition, many of the Polynesian natives know little of Cook or think of him not as an explorer but as an exploiter of the lands. A man that brought violence, disease and western culture that destroyed the lifestyle of the lands. The New Zealand natives think of Cook in the same way that the American Indian Movement of the 1970s feel about Columbus today. Horwitz adds balance by telling of Cooks modern approach to keep his sailors healthy, quarantine the sick away from island women (a challenge in any day) and his attempts to peacefully co-exist with natives. Horwitz tells some delightful tales of his experiences in these exotic places such as Cook Town where Cook was beached after striking the Great barrier Reef (tough way to discover something) and joins the hard and early drinking residents in a re-enactment of their first landing. But he also tells of the plight of the Aborigines, their lack of need for material things and their virtual eradication by early settlers. He tells of the Island Tonga and its split society between Royalty and affluent and the balance of the natives that have little exercise of a true democracy. He also visits the Island of Niue, which was called Savage Island by Cook due to an aggressive meeting with the natives. Niue mysteriously earns income through a nefarious company licensing providing the government income and a tax shelter for the company. In addition, Niue has a 900 number connection as an income producer and a short lived medical college that has no students and a questionable lone member faculty. Even if someone is unfamiliar with Cook, you will grew to appreciate the individual who rose from very modest means to a celebrated British Naval captain and navigator and explorer of the Pacific. By the time Horwitz tracks Cook on his third voyage to the Pacific particular his travels to Alaska and the windy and cold Aleutians
and then Hawaii, you cannot help but have developed respect for this brave and straitlaced traveler. Although you know early on of Cook's death in Hawaii, Horwitz visits the island last appropriately in the same locations as Cook and he weaves the story of his death while telling of the development of the Island and its people. At the end, it seems that Cook's elementary method of using force to recapture a stolen boat under estimated the response of the natives which may have been aggravated by his physical failings on his third trying voyage in a very short time with a boat that was disabled prematurely. This is the ultimate travelogue, visiting history with a social respective of the people and places with humor and with an Aussie who adds fun with a blunt perspective.
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Summary: Amazing travellog and biography... I couldn't put it down.
Review: Tony Horwitz manages is an amazing writer; his clear, easy style had me laughing out loud several times. Still, he managed to draw a vivid picture of this most controversial explorer. Cook's "discoveries" in the Pacific and annexation of the lands therein exposed the cultures there to European "civilization" and all the inherent ills and diseases... is he a villain? Or was he at the very least an open-minded explorer, concerned about the effects his ship and those-to-come would have on the native peoples? And why did he make such questionable choices, especially on his last voyage? Horwitz sets out on his own Voyage of Discovery, tracing three voyages of Captain Cook in the Pacific through Polynesia, Australia, and even the Pacific Northwest (he could not get to Antarctica, though he wrote about Cook's travels there). Most fascinating, Horwitz explores, with great empathy, the of the people and cultures of the places Cook encountered, and their attitudes (both then and now) to this most controversial man.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Anyone who's travelled to at least one Captain Cook spot will enjoy this book. P.S. Mick Jagger said on THE CHARLIE ROSE SHOW that "Blue Latitudes" is the book he is reading at the moment.
Rating: 
Summary: Like Peter Mayle, with more canvas and context
Review: With the aid of a witty sidekick named Roger (able to shout "Bugger Cook" at just the right moment), not unlike Regis, the gourmande who appears in Peter Mayle's Provence books, Tony Horwitz has produced an amusing, often wry, look at Cook's world today. Along the way, he's levened it with a good dose of history and a healthy respect for Cook and his crew. There's something postmodern about the book -- highly personal travel writing with a bit more at stake. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but if you enjoy a good first person account with pointed observations, Horwitz's book is for you.
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Summary: But Where's Roger?
Review: Tony Horwitz on steroids! I have to say it, I like Tony's pithy little volumes about Australia and the Middle East much better. Blue Latitudes is too heavy, both literally and figuratively. It is of course a well-researched and well-written book, but I am glad Tony had to read the original Cook journals, and that I didn't. His impressions of the South Pacific today are right on, and I loved the tales of the Yorkshire people. No wonder Roger went to Australia. Tony, you wouldn't mind giving out Roger's phone number, would you???
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Summary: Good travel book
Review: This is NOT a biography of Captain Cook, as some reviewers seem to regret. Rather it is something altogether more interesting: a juxtaposition of a modern travelogue and a mini-life of the mariner. The synthesis works well. Horwitz's biting sense of humor is every bit in evidence here as in "Confederates in the Attic," only the landscape is much larger. There are also no pictures because the author wants you to rely on his words to paint the scene; he accomplishes that end very well. I recommend this book to any lover of travel or seafaring literature.
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Summary: The Pacific, Then and Now
Review: Horwitz does a great job of moving back and forth between the Pacific as Cook found it and the same places today. Along the way he meets those who cherish Cooks memory and activists who revile him for spoiling paradise. It's hard not to repect a man who sailed to each arctic circle and around the world, but Horwitz examines his flaws as well as his heroism. The book is informative and fun, and the style works well. Those who like Bill Bryson will enjoy Blue Latitudes.
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Summary: A sucker for Polynesia
Review: I'm a sucker for any information about Polynesia today. I also
envy professional travelers. So Blue Latitude gave me both:
a stoy about Captain Cook and a stoy about the author's travels
following Captain Cook's footsteps. Horwitz does not mince words about the state of some of the Polynesian Islands. Tahiti is dirty and disinterested. The Tongans in the capital are sullen. But Horwitz met the King of Tonga. To me, that is amazing. Thinking about it, Horwitz's methods were as interesting as the book that it produced. He did a lot of research but he also trusted himself to meet people as he went along. He *talked" to the locals and left plenty of time to search out the local experts.
I could not put down this book!!
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Summary: An entertaining sampling of Cook for the non-historian
Review: Tony Horwitz spends a year and a half visiting many of the places Captain Cook visited from 1768 - 1779. The book culminates with Cook's violent death in modern day Hawaii. The book alternates back and forth between Cook's 18th century experience and Mr. Horwitz's modern day travels. Horwitz does an excellent job of interpreting the various sources available and giving an account that the historical layperson can relate to. Key characters include the author, Cook, the colorful Joseph Banks (the Endevour's Botanist) and Horowitz's even more colorful traveling companion Roger Williamson. Horwitz paints a picture of Cook as an austere, yet fair man-seemingly driven to the edges of the earth. As driven as Cook is to explore the world, Banks is driven to explore the anatomies of females from different Polynesian cultures. Roger is mainly content to explore the bottle and make wisecracks about Horwitz's adventure. If you think Blue Latitudes sounds like a dry historical piece, you're sorely mistaken. Any potential dryness is quickly quenched by Horwitz's wit, Banks's "botanizing" and Roger's boozing. Much to my wife's amusement I found myself laughing out loud many times while reading Blue Latitudes. Despite that, I found myself strangely moved after reading the account of Cook's death. While the consequences of Cook's voyages are complex, you cannot help but feel a great admiration for this man who started with so little yet went so far. Great book, highly recommended.
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Summary: "Ambition leads me¿as far as I think possible for man to go"
Review: In three epic journeys, from 1768 to his death in Hawaii in 1779, Captain James Cook charted most of the south Pacific, the coast of Alaska, and parts of Antarctica, claiming much of it in the name of the king. Despite the fact that he covered 200,000 miles, "explored more of the earth's surface than anyone in history," and redrew the map of the world, Cook remains a relatively obscure historical figure, even in his native land, and is the subject of legend, much of it fanciful, in the places he charted. In celebrating Cook's achievements, analyzing the man and his values, and evaluating his influence, Horwitz attempts to put Cook's discoveries into their rightful perspective. Accompanied by Roger Williamson, an Aussie free spirit dedicated to wine, women, and fun, author Horwitz travels to those places "discovered" by Captain Cook, describing Cook's reception by indigenous cultures, and observing the cultures as they exist today--in virtually all cases, despoiled by contact with the "civilized" world. Tahiti, Bora Bora, New Zealand, Australia, Tonga, the Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii, before and after western contact, are presented in detail, using Capt. Cook's own journals, the journals of naturalist Joseph Banks (who accompanied him on his important first voyage), drawings by Cook's artists, and the research of Cook biographer John Beaglehole to establish the pre-contact cultures. Horwitz's personal observations, interviews with local inhabitants, and on-site research assess the lasting effects. Cook becomes accessible as a personality because of his friendship with Banks, who often served as his sounding board, and, it appears, loosened him up a bit. Naturally expansive and enthusiastic, and uninhibited by responsibilities and the sense of morality which seemed to dominate Cook, Banks serves as a foil to Cook. While Cook conscientiously records the contours of islands, Banks is far more interested in getting to know the local residents. Horwitz's friend Williamson, on the trip primarily for fun, not scholarship, serves the same purpose in Horwitz's book, creating humorous diversions both for Horwitz and the reader and spicing up Horwitz's serious research. Fascinating as a biography of the complex Capt. Cook, as a lively record of the age of exploration, as a modern adventure to "romantic" south Pacific islands, and as research on cultural anthropology, this is an exhilarating and fast-paced narrative, one which will reward careful reading and cause the reader to examine the dubious results of "civilization." Horwitz obviously enjoyed his research, and the reader will, too, however vicariously. Mary Whipple
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