Am 12. Juli 1776 stach James Cook, in seiner Heimat bereits als der größte »Entdecker« der britischen Geschichte gefeiert, mit der HMS Resolution zu seiner dritten großen Reise in See. Zweieinhalb Jahre später wurde er an einem Strand von Hawaii in einem Konflikt mit Einheimischen getötet. Bisher war Cook durch einen für seine Zeit bemerkenswerten Respekt gegenüber indigenen Völkern aufgefallen. Doch auf dieser letzten Fahrt zeigte er sich von einer ganz anderen Seite. Wie dies mit dem geheimen Befehl zusammenhängen könnte, die Nordwestpassage zu erschließen, beleuchtet Hampton Sides in seinem neuen Buch. Cooks letzte Reise liest sich wie eine rasante Abenteuergeschichte auf hoher See und ist zugleich eine kluge Reflexion über das Zeitalter der sogenannten Entdeckungen.
Hampton Sides Ordine dei libri (cronologico)






From New York Times bestselling author Hampton Sides comes an epic account of Captain James Cook's final voyage, culminating in his tragic death. On July 12, 1776, Cook embarked on his third journey aboard HMS Resolution, which would lead to his demise on a Hawaiian beach, where he was killed in a conflict with the indigenous people. Known for his humane leadership and respect for new cultures, Cook had previously mapped vast areas of the Pacific and made first contacts with various native populations. His mission was to return a Tahitian man, Mai, to his homeland, but he also carried secret orders to explore the fabled Northwest Passage and claim new territories for Britain. This voyage marked a shift in Cook's character, revealing a more complex figure than the celebrated explorer he was known to be. Deeply researched and vividly narrated, this account is both a fast-paced adventure and a thoughtful exploration of the consequences of the Age of Exploration. Critics have praised Sides for his riveting storytelling and meticulous research, describing the work as a gripping nonfiction thriller that reads like an epic adventure.
On Desperate Ground
- 432pagine
- 16 ore di lettura
"A chronicle of the extraordinary feats of heroism by Marines called on to do the impossible during the greatest battle of the Korean War."...Provided by publisher
In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
- 480pagine
- 17 ore di lettura
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A white-knuckle tale of polar exploration and heroism in the Gilded Age from the New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers. • “A splendid book in every way…a marvelous nonfiction thriller.” —The Wall Street Journal On July 8, 1879, Captain George Washington De Long and his team of thirty-two men set sail from San Francisco on the USS Jeanette. Heading deep into uncharted Arctic waters, they carried the aspirations of a young country burning to be the first nation to reach the North Pole. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the Jeannette's hull was breached by an impassable stretch of pack ice, forcing the crew to abandon ship amid torrents of rushing of water. Hours later, the ship had sunk below the surface, marooning the men a thousand miles north of Siberia, where they faced a terrifying march with minimal supplies across the endless ice pack. Enduring everything from snow blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms and labyrinths of ice, the crew battled madness and starvation as they struggled desperately to survive. With thrilling twists and turns, In The Kingdom of Ice is a spellbinding tale of heroism and determination in the most brutal place on Earth.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Ghost Soldiers comes an eye-opening history of the American conquest of the West—"a story full of authority and color, truth and prophecy" (The New York Times Book Review). In the summer of 1846, the Army of the West marched through Santa Fe, en route to invade and occupy the Western territories claimed by Mexico. Fueled by the new ideology of “Manifest Destiny,” this land grab would lead to a decades-long battle between the United States and the Navajos, the fiercely resistant rulers of a huge swath of mountainous desert wilderness. At the center of this sweeping tale is Kit Carson, the trapper, scout, and soldier whose adventures made him a legend. Sides shows us how this illiterate mountain man understood and respected the Western tribes better than any other American, yet willingly followed orders that would ultimately devastate the Navajo nation. Rich in detail and spanning more than three decades, this is an essential addition to our understanding of how the West was really won.
On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the Philippines made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation. In Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides vividly re-creates this daring raid, offering a minute-by-minute narration that unfolds alongside intimate portraits of the prisoners and their lives in the camp. Sides shows how the POWs banded together to survive, defying the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and torture. Harrowing, poignant, and inspiring, Ghost Soldiers is the mesmerizing story of a remarkable mission. It is also a testament to the human spirit, an account of enormous bravery and self-sacrifice amid the most trying conditions.
Oscar Storia - 56: Seppellite il mio cuore a Wounded Knee
- 477pagine
- 17 ore di lettura
1860 - 1890: è il trentennio della "soluzione finale" per il problema indiano, che approda alla distruzione della cultura e della civiltà dei pellerossa. In questo periodo nascono tutti i grandi miti del West, un'epopea ad esclusivo beneficio degli uomini bianchi. I racconti dei commercianti di pellicce, dei missionari, dei cercatori d'oro, delle Giacche Blu, degli avventurieri, dei costruttori di ferrovie e di città stendono una fitta coltre che nasconde la versione indiana sulla conquista del West. I pellerossa costituivano l'antistoria, l'ostacolo al trionfo della nuova civiltà; per di più non sapevano scrivere nella lingua dei bianchi. Eppure la loro fievole voce non è andata perduta del tutto: alcuni ricordi hanno resistito al tempo in virtù della tradizione orale o per mezzo delle pittografie; dai verbali degli incontri ufficiali è possibile desumere illuminanti testimonianze; nelle rarissime interviste raccolte da giornalisti sono reperibili suggestive ricostruzioni di celebri e sanguinosi avvenimenti, e da sperdute pubblicazioni dell'epoca l'opinione dei pellerossa è potuta così giungere fino a noi. Dee Brown ha fatto solo la sua parte di storico: la raccolta delle fonti, l'esame critico, la stesura della narrazione. Per la prima volta a parlare sono i pellerossa, dai grandi capi agli oscuri guerrieri; narrano come venne distrutto un popolo ed il mondo in cui viveva.
