Cook is widely recognized as Britain’s greatest explorer. He was a celebrated sailor, a revered leader and he was said to treat Indigenous populations with respect. Yet it was on his final voyage that James Cook was killed — the result of a conflict with Native Hawaiians. In a new book, the historian Hampton Sides tells the story of James Cook’s last journey, and why it went wrong. It may have had to do with Cook’s secret orders: to claim territory for Britain before her rivals could.
GUEST –
Hampton Sides | Historian, author and journalist. His latest book is “The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook” [Amazon | Bookshop].
Airdate: Wed., May 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. and Sat. May 18, 2024 at 11 a.m.