Pioneers of the Pacific: Voyages of Exploration, 1787-1810

by Glyndwr Williams, Nigel Rigby, Pieter Van der Merwe, et al.

When Captain Cook died on Hawaii in 1780, Britain was already at war with France and Spain, who had allied themselves with her rebellious American subjects. The new United States secured its independence in 1783 and, as peace resumed, all three rival European powers turned again to considering the opportunities revealed by Cook's work in the Pacific. Further expeditions were soon dispatched: some were successful, some disasterous, and the achievements of some are still too little known. This book looks at six of Cook's successors and their Pacific voyages: at Arthur Phillip, founder of the first British colony in Australia; the Comte de Laperouse, whose French scientific expedition vanished without a trace; William Bligh, first in the ill-fated Bounty but then successfully in the Providence and in a Spanish expedition forgotten in the oblivion of his later political disgrace; George Vancouver's controversial voyage to northwest America; and Matthew Flinders' charting of Australia and long imprisonment by the French on Mauritius.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1889963763
• ISBN13: 9781889963761
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: University of Alaska Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Six of Cook's successors and their Pacific journeys are revealed

Expeditions of adventure didn't end with the demise of Captain Cook in 1780: further expeditions were soon dispatched, but too few accounts provide general-interest readers with their specifics. Six of Cook's successors and their Pacific journeys are revealed in Pioneers Of The Pacific: Voyages Of Exploratio, 1787-1810 through the collaborative efforts of Nigel Rigby, Pieter van der Merwe and Lyn Williams. Illustrations in color from a range of international sources accompany biographical and adventure sketches of the six early explorers who continued Cook's legacy and considers their lasting impact, from Arthur Philip, the founder of the first British colony in Australia, to Alejandro Malaspina, whose Spanish expedition's achievements were overshadowed by his later disgrace.