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To Go Upon Discovery: James Cook and Canada, from 1758 to 1779
To Go Upon Discovery James Cook and Canada from 1758 to 1779 Author:Victor Suthren The Captain James Cook of standard history books is a successful navigator and cartographer who brought many of the islands of the south Pacific under British influence. We associate him with Australia, Easter Island, the Marquesas, and Hawaii, where he met his end. What we don't know about Captain Cook is that he learned and perfected h... more »is skills of cartography mapping the coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. More interesting to Canadians, he was present at two of the most significant battles that shaped our history: the Battle of Louisbourg and the Battle of Quebec. To Go Upon Discovery: James Cook and Canada, from 1758 to 1779, is a fascinating read as it takes the reader from Cook's humble beginnings in Yorkshire - in a town that had yet to feel the changes of the Industrial Revolution and was relatively unchanged from the time of the Middle Ages -through his brief schooling and clerkship in a shop to his apprenticeship as a seaman. Cook's life was - until his untimely death - an amalgam of common sense, hard work, good luck, and providence. He rose through the ranks of the Royal Navy steadily, achieving at an early age positions often reserved for men of less humble birth. Cook's years in Canada were pivotal times in our history. Although associated more commonly with his more famous explorations of the South Pacific, Cook's work in mapping the coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland were extremely important. Important, because through these undertakings Cook transformed himself into an excellent cartographer. Equally important, because his maps of the coast of Newfoundland were the most accurate until modern times. Cook's is a fascinating life and now, with Victor Suthren's contribution, that life has been realised more fully.« less