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The first-ever illustrated account of Captain James Cook's epic eighteenth-century voyages, complete with excerpts from his vivid journals.This is history's greatest adventure story. In 1766, the Royal Society chose prodigal mapmaker and navigator James Cook to lead a South Pacific voyage. His orders were to chart the path of Venus across the sun. That task completed, his ship, the HMS Endeavour, continued to comb the southern hemisphere for the imagined continent Terra Australis. The voyage lasted from 1768 to 1771, and upon Cook's return to London, his journaled accounts of the expedition made him a celebrity. After that came two more voyages for Cook and his crew, followed by Cook's untimely murder by natives in Hawaii. The Voyages of Captain James Cook reveals Cook's fascinating story through excerpts from his journals, as well as illustrations, photography, and supplementary writings.