Publisher Description
“A treasure of a book.”—David McCullough The harrowing story of a pathbreaking naval expedition that set out to map the entire Pacific Ocean, dwarfing Lewis and Clark with its discoveries, from the New York Times bestselling author of Valiant Ambition and In the Hurricane’s Eye. A New York Times Notable Book America’s first frontier was not the West; it was the sea, and no one writes more eloquently about that watery wilderness than Nathaniel Philbrick. In his bestselling In the Heart of the Sea Philbrick probed the nightmarish dangers of the vast Pacific. Now, in an epic sea adventure, he writes about one of the most ambitious voyages of discovery the Western world has ever seen—the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842. On a scale that dwarfed the journey of Lewis and Clark, six magnificent sailing vessels and a crew of hundreds set out to map the entire Pacific Ocean and ended up naming the newly discovered continent of Antarctica, collecting what would become the basis of the Smithsonian Institution. Combining spellbinding human drama and meticulous research, Philbrick reconstructs the dark saga of the voyage to show why, instead of being celebrated and revered as that of Lewis and Clark, it has—until now—been relegated to a footnote in the national memory. Winner of the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize
Download and start listening now!
“This book was more about personalities at work than a scientific overview of the Ex Ex; It was interesting reading about the people, their personalities and how they inter-played with the often (deservedly) maligned Lt Wilkes. Wilkes, who led the four year survey team of the Pacific, Antarctic region and the Northwest coast of the US was given more responsibility than he was probably equipped to deal with under a highly stressful situation. It most likely didn’t help that he was never given the actual rank that his task needed, and thus never really had the full measure of trust from his entire squadron of ships. The few people he had respect from lost it because of things that he did.. things that probably could have made the expedition more of a success. On a happy note, it was because of the great success of the scientists and sheer volume of specimens involved with the Exploring Expedition that a certain wealthy American’s dream of establishing some sort of place or institution (a man named Smithson) became a reality which we call the Smithsonian Institute.. “You gotta have a place for your stuff.”
I felt it was a good reminder of the flaws of humanity, the petty nature of people, and a very good example of how we don’t always get what we deserve or want and life just isn’t fair.. Wilkes felt he deserved so much more and was driven by ego rather than talent. The people with real talent never got the revenge they felt they needed or were justified. I think it would make a great book for psych majors too. ;P”
—
Pamela (4 out of 5 stars)
