The Story of the Voyage

Study of voyage narratives, including Cook and Bligh, set in the context of British imperialism.

The first study of a century of sea-going narratives, which puts the accounts of Captain Cook and Captain Bligh in the context of narratives of convicts, passengers, and victims of the press-gang. It is a book about writing rather than explorations which reveals narratives of great energy and vitality.This is the first full study of one of the most popular and extensive forms of eighteenth-century literature, the voyage narrative. It illustrates the wide variety of published and unpublished material in this field, from self-satisfied official accounts to the little-known narratives of victims of the press-gang. It includes a survey of writings about the Pacific - including Cook's voyages and Bligh and The Bounty; there is a major new study of William Dampier, studies of writings about the slave-trade, and accounts of seamen and passengers, including Fielding and Mary Wollstonecraft. This is a book about writing, rather than exploration and adventure, dealing with the devious routes from the actuality of experience to the production of self-serving narratives. These are narratives of energy, vitality and interest, set within the context of British competitive sea-going imperialism.