Current location:opinions >>
Book Review: Hampton Sides revisits Captain James Cook, a divisive figure in the South Pacific
opinions9People have gathered around
IntroductionCaptain James Cook’s voyages in the South Pacific in the late 1700s exemplify the law of unintended ...
Captain James Cook’s voyages in the South Pacific in the late 1700s exemplify the law of unintended consequences. He set out to find a westward ocean passage from Europe to Asia but instead, with the maps he created and his reports, Cook revealed the Pacific islands and their people to the world.
In recent decades, Cook has been vilified by some scholars and cultural revisionists for bringing European diseases, guns and colonization. But Hampton Sides’ new book, “The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook,” details that Polynesian island life and cultures were not always idyllic.
Priests sometimes made human sacrifices. Warriors mutilated enemy corpses. People defeated in battle sometimes were enslaved. King Kamehameha, a revered figure in Hawaii, unified the Hawaiian Islands in 1810 at a cost of thousands of warriors’ lives.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Stellar Station news portal”。http://tonga.downmusic.org/html-97c299812.html
Related articles
With Djokovic awaiting the winner, Murray trails Hanfmann at rain
opinionsGENEVA (AP) — Needing a win to face Novak Djokovic next at the Geneva Open, Andy Murray was saved by ...
【opinions】
Read more'Barbie' makes history with $1 billion at the box office
opinionsYour web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here ...
【opinions】
Read moreLuke Littler's Premier League darts rival Michael van Gerwen, 34, says the 17
opinionsAn unfiltered Michael van Gerwen slammed Luke Littler once again after beating the teenager in the f ...
【opinions】
Read more
Popular articles
- What a blast to work at NASA. Space agency is sky
- VOX POPULI: Rooting for the Sendai killifish that survived the 2011 tsunami
- Shi Fu Miz 2023: Hong Kong music & art festival returns to Cheung Chau farm, expands to 3 days
- MPs pay not a decision for politicians
- The fightback begins: Boss of London's Queen Mary University tells pro
- New video of 'human bear' waving emerges as expert weighs in with verdict
Latest articles
Bella Hadid goes braless in a thigh
Alarm over 'strange' illness that has killed four and sickened dozens more in Nigeria
China news: July exports tumble by double digits, adding to pressure to shore up flagging economy
Coronavirus China update: China's funeral homes overcrowded amid COVID
Britain's new bonkers EV: Callum Skye is an £80k electric buggy built in Warwickshire
VOX POPULI: China always occupied a special place in Ozawa’s heart
LINKS
- Day 3 of the Masters at a glance
- Westfield Bondi Junction incident live updates: Heartbreak as mother of nine
- Alaska judge finds correspondence school reimbursements unconstitutional
- 300,000 new families eligible for welfare program in Sri Lanka
- Samuel Ersson blanks Devils to keep Flyers' slim playoff hopes alive in 1
- Tkachuk gets 2 goals, Batherson scores in the shootout, and Senators beat Canadiens 5
- Runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport reopens after aircraft collision
- Domestic terrorism, political violence seen as top threat to U.S. interests in 2024: survey
- Hamas leader arrives in Cairo to hold talks on Gaza truce
- Trump critic Chris Christie exits 2024 U.S. presidential race