New York Times Bestseller
New York Times Bestseller that reads like a thriller—but it’s all true. Hampton Sides charts Captain Cook’s final Pacific voyage and his shocking transformation from enlightened explorer to volatile colonial agent. Salt-sprayed prose, moral complexity, and adventure that echoes across centuries. Utterly gripping.
$19.00
Hampton Sides delivers a New York Times Bestseller and Notable Book that reads like a gripping maritime thriller—except every wave-tossed moment is true. The Wide Wide Sea charts Captain James Cook’s final, fateful voyage across the Pacific, culminating in his mysterious death on a Hawaiian beach in 1779. This is exploration history at its most riveting.
What makes this account so compelling is Sides’ unflinching examination of Cook himself—a man celebrated for his scientific curiosity and respect for Indigenous peoples, yet whose third voyage revealed a darker, more volatile side. As Cook sailed toward his secret orders to claim lands for the British Empire and find the Northwest Passage, something shifted. The humane captain became mercurial, violent, and reckless. Sides masterfully explores this transformation while never losing sight of the catastrophic impact of colonial contact on native populations.
The prose crackles with salt spray and tension. You’ll feel the creak of the HMS Resolution‘s timbers, the thrill of uncharted waters, and the weight of empire bearing down on every shore Cook touched. Praised by The Wall Street Journal as “thrilling and superbly crafted” and named a best book by Time, The Economist, NPR, and The Smithsonian, this is narrative history that refuses to look away from complexity.
Perfect for readers who love adventure, moral ambiguity, and stories that echo across centuries. A stunning achievement from one of America’s finest storytellers.
thrilling and superbly crafted
A tour de force of narrative nonfiction... Sides has written a book that is both a thrilling adventure story and a profound meditation on the costs of empire.
Sides brings to life one of history's most consequential voyages with vivid prose and meticulous research.
Hampton Sides has given us a masterpiece of historical narrative—a book that is as enlightening as it is entertaining.
A gripping tale of exploration, ambition, and the clash of civilizations.
| Weight | 0.95 lbs |
|---|---|
| Fiction Type | |
| Book Author | |
| Subject | Biographies & Memoirs, Expeditions & Discoveries, History, Maritime History & Piracy, Professionals & Academics, Travelers & Explorers, World |
| Accolade |
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