PositiveTimes Literary Supplement (UK)Brotton offers what might be framed as a history of the cultural politics of the cardinal directions. The scope of the book is breathtaking ... Faster, travels further, but inevitably sacrifices depth. Let us hope the rich seams the author has opened up are mined by others.
Peter Moore
RaveThe Literary ReviewMoore’s elegant and entertaining new book offers us a fascinating biography of the Endeavour, using it as a window onto the broader world of the mid-18th-century English Enlightenment ... Moore has researched the culture of Whitby boat building extensively and is able to make technical details sparkle for the general reader ... Unsurprisingly, Moore’s account of the vessel’s second incarnation is the part of the book that adds least to our knowledge because this subject has been so extensively researched already ... a beautifully crafted book, but it does at times overreach itself ... a deeply satisfying book. It represents an intelligent, diverse, fresh and challenging approach to writing the history of exploration. Paying homage to the remarkable lives of a single vessel, Peter Moore also gives the Endeavour a new lease of life long after its sinking.
