The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook
4.7 | 5,478 ratings
Price: 19.69
Last update: 12-21-2025
Top reviews from the United States
- ThePinkPenguinGreat Addition to the LibraryI discovered Hampton Sides a couple years ago with In The Kingdom of Ice. I immediately enjoyed his writing style. So then I read Blood and Thunder, and then Ghost Soldiers. You can tell that meticulous research has gone into every one of these books. But that really is the bare minimum for a non-fiction writing. And it's what comes after the meticulous research that keeps me coming back to Hampton Sides' books. He doesn't just tell interesting true stories. He tells them in an interesting way. Every one is a page turner.
So when I heard about The Wide Wide Sea I ordered it as soon as it was available. And again I found a page turner about a fascinating period of history. If you are at all interested in sailing, exploration, or adventure give this one a read.
As far as the physical condition of the book itself, it's well made and high quality. - F. MoyerAn amazingly well-documented voyage – even though taken 250 years ago!Cook sailed on three multi-year voyages of discovery. This book is focused on his third voyage, which is probably his best known voyage because Cook was killed by island natives on that third voyage.
After Cook’s first two voyages, he was England’s preeminent explorer. So when England began organizing an expedition to search for a Northwest Passage (which would connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans), Cook was the natural choice to lead the expedition.
The book isn’t particularly kind to Cook’s memory in the first half of the book. By the third voyage, Cook is older. His urge to explore new island discoveries seems less than during his first two voyages. His crew disciple seems more excessive on this third voyage. Perhaps Cook wasn’t the best choice for this third voyage of exploration.
But Cook’s reputation is treated much more laudatory in the second half of the book. His sailing prowess in the face of danger (fog, winds, heavy seas, icing – and their related damage to the ship) avoided tragedy more than once. And his courage while trying to personally establish first-contact with armed, superstitious natives was brave, though also perhaps far too close to the point of foolhardiness.
Normally, a book about a voyage taken 250 years ago would have to be light on facts and heavy on conjecture regarding what people really thought and what really happened. But this was a voyage of discovery. In addition to sailors and marines, the ship had astronomers, artists, anthropologists, botanists and diarists. It was probably one of the best documented voyages, before or since. And author Hampton Sides turned all that information into an excellent book.
Bottom Line: I’ve often thought that a good history book (i.e., non-fiction) can be more interesting and exciting than the most imaginative fiction. This book is such an example. - woosterVery Exciting ‘Sea Story’Excellent book, covering the 3rd (and final) journey of Captain Cook…which included his return to Tahiti, Tasmania and New Zealand…and eventually the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands.
Captain Cook's mission (which began in London) was to sail his ships south along the Atlantic Ocean and breach the bottom of Africa to enter the Pacific Ocean. From there he was to travel north (all the way to the Artic) to map and explore North America and Alaska, while also searching for the (non-existent) Northwest Passage (the mythical, ice-free sea route that supposedly connected both coasts of America). He accidently ran right into Hawaii while travelling north.
This was Captain Cook’s 3rd world voyage (I keep wanting to say Captain Kirk…lol...will someone please beam me up) and it lasted about 5 years, occurring in the late 1700s (about the same time as the American Revolution was being fought on the other side of the world).
This story is very exciting. When the ships would leave a port, I couldn’t wait to see what kind of adventure the ship and crew would encounter next…either at-sea or at their next port.
The story is taken from the very descriptive writings and logbooks of the crewmembers themselves, so that the reader gets a very good sense of what things were like during this voyage and what the crew experienced at some of the most exotic places on earth, particularly the first encounters with the Hawaiians and Alaskans. At times I felt like I was ‘right there’.
The author did an excellent job tying everything together and making this a very enjoyable (and enlightening) reading experience. Highly recommended for history buffs. - CorkyGreat Read!Fantastic story of the sea and its island people. It really does not get going until page 59 but from there it’s an adventurous sea story. It’s interesting to read of how the islands in the Pacific and the locations along the American west coast got their names. Cook was looking for a passage from the northern Pacific up around Alaska and the goal was to find a way to sail over the top of North America and reach the Atlantic Ocean and then sail back to England, unfortunately he never made it. 354 pages in soft cover, I think that anyone who loves the sea and all it’s wonders would find it hard to put this book aside until finished. Storms, friendly natives and not so friendly natives, disease and sea life of all kinds, it’s all here.
- WBGreat historical fiction novel.I loved this book, I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in history. I just bought the hardback for my son as a gift. It is well written and informative.
- jwamericanAmazing Story; easy read.Another excellent story from Hampton Sides. Cook was an amazing and gifted man who accomplished so much more than his many critics could ever hope to achieve. Seems he tended to respect the peoples he encountered more often than not and, at times, recognized that the “civilization” he represented and brought with him was not ultimately beneficial to them. Highly recommend this read.