James Cook, son of a farm laborer and onetime shopkeeper’s apprentice, became one of England’s greatest explorers. After learning his trade as a seafarer in the Royal Navy, he commanded three epic voyages that took him around the world twice and from the Antarctic to the Arctic. His many discoveries included the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands. His exploration of the South Pacific added immeasurably to the geography of that region, and his rigorous insistence on a diet intended to prevent diseases like scurvy served as a model for generations of captains. On his final voyage, Cook was stabbed to death during the season of war in Hawaii. In
Captain James Cook , learn how this daring explorer charted far-flung regions of the globe.