Magnificent Voyage: An American Adventurer on Captain James Cook's Final Expedition

Based on the shipboard journals of John Ledyard, just 25 when he joined Capt. James Cook's crew to discover the Northwest Passage in 1776, Laurie Lawlor's Magnificent Voyage: An American Adventurer on Captain James Cook's Final Expedition is thorough and engaging. Ledyard gained notoriety when he published, in America, his account of Cook's death before British officials had a chance to issue their report; in 1786 Paris, he befriended Thomas Jefferson. Period etchings, maps and primary documents illustrate the text.