Voyages of Delusion: The Search Northwest Passage in the Age of Reason

Williams, Glyn

Travel

Harpercollins

Voyages of Delusion in the Age of Reason: Williams's book charts the 18th-century's perilous and often fatal attempts to discover a passage through the Arctic to the Pacific. An astounding work of the history of arctic exploration. Glyn Williams's Prize of All the Oceans was reviewed by Patrick O'Brian: 'A remarkably erudite and deeply informed book'. And by Andrew Roberts as 'Staggeringly good! the best book I've read in ages.' The Quest for the North-West Passage should be as big a best-seller as Fergus Fleming's Barrow's Boys--which was about the quest for the north-west passage in the 19th century. Williams's book is set in the heat of 18th century exploration fever and charts the many perilous expeditions undertaken to find the 'maritime philosopher's stone' from amongst the ice and eskimos of Hudson Bay. Fuelled by the promise of fame and riches from revitalised British trade and dominance of the North American continent, the search for this illusory passage even captivated Cook--the most pragmatic of explorers. Williams examines successive expeditions from James Knight to George Vancouver. The secretive Hudson's Bay Company plays a supporting role throughout, as does Sir Arthur Dobbs whose political ambition--and obsessive pursuit of the illusory passage--relied heavily on exploitative cunning, personal greed and putting other's lives at risk. The book is based on extensive archival research and archaeological excavations which fuel the content of the book, rich in political and personal intrigue. Written with the narrative brilliance and the mastery of form which characterises The Prize of all the Oceans, this book promises to be both a work of historical excellence and a compelling story of daring adventure, survival and endurance at sea.

Voyages of Delusion: The Search for the North West Passage in the Age of Reason

History

World

The startling history of Anson’s voyage round the world in 1740. ‘A quite remarkably erudite and deeply informed book’ Patrick O’Brian, Daily Telegraph 
Anson’s voyage of 1740-44 holds a unique and terrible place in British naval history. The misadventures of this first attempt by Royal Navy ships to sail round the world make a dramatic story of hardship, disaster, mutiny and heroism. Only one of Anson’s squadron, the flagship Centurion, completed its mission. The other vessels were wrecked, scuttled or forced back in shattered condition. Out of 1850 officers and men who sailed from Spithead in September 1740, almost fourteen hundred died, most from disease or starvation. With crews ravaged by scurvy, Anson’s ships were battered by relentless storms as they attempted to round Cape Horn. Two of the six men-of-war in the squadron turned back, their captains to face later accusations of desertion. A third, the Wager, was wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Chile in circumstances in which all discipline vanished; Williams’ description of the ensuing mutiny and the survival of the largest group in a tiny makeshift vessel sailing hundreds of miles south to safety in appalling conditions is a classic account in what is set to be a classic sea history. When Anson reached the coast of China in November 1742 he was left with one ship and a handful of men, some of whom had ‘turned mad and idiots’. Despite this he was determined to capture ‘The Prize of All the Oceans’, the legendary Spanish treasure ship making its annual voyage from Acapulco to Manila. In this he succeeded, and returned home a hero; like Drake himself, one of the great British masters of the sea.

The Prize of All the Oceans

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

The action-packed true story of Commodore Anson's legendary 1740 mission to capture a Spanish galleon on the high seas chronicles the British officer's subsequent disastrous campaign that resulted mutiny, starvation, and heroism. Reprint..

The Prize of All the Oceans: Commodore Anson's Daring Voyage and Triumphant Capture of the Spanish Treasure Galleon

Europe

Penguin??Books

For centuries British navigators dreamed of finding the Northwest Passage—the route above North America that would open up the wealth of Asia to British merchants. Although we now know that such passages are often choked by impassable ice, this knowledge was slowly won, as expedition after expedition, under terrible conditions, added to their scanty, sometimes fatally misleading charts. In Arctic Labyrinth, naval historian Glyn Williams tells this extraordinary story with skill and brilliance. From the tiny, woefully equipped ships of the Tudor expeditions to the icebreakers and nuclear submarines of the modern era, Williams describes the heroism, folly, and horror of these voyages, as well as lessons for future expeditions. With the shrinking of Arctic ice due to global warming, a navigable Northwest Passage will open up for the first time. An important work of exploration and naval history, Arctic Labyrinth is a remarkable study in adventure, courage, and fortitude.

Arctic Labyrinth: The Quest For The Northwest Passage

Penguin Canada

The eighteenth century―the Age of Reason―was characterized by determined attempts by philosophers, scientists, and political theorists to dispel myth, superstition, and ignorance. But the Age of Reason also witnessed some of the most irrational and vainglorious attempts by sailors and speculators to find a navigable Northwest Passage that would lead through the icy seas of the Arctic from Hudson Bay to the wealth of the Pacific Ocean. Lured by the promise of fame and riches, men endured paralyzing cold, malnutrition, and terrifying storms. Many lives and fortunes were lost in the quest for the elusive "maritime philosopher’s stone." In this gripping work of narrative history, Glyn Williams describes the adventures and mishaps of these misguided expeditions. Vividly written and replete with fascinating characters, Voyages of Delusion is a riveting contribution to the history of North American exploration.

Voyages of Delusion: The Quest for the Northwest Passage

Americas

Yale University Press

From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, English buccaneers, privateers, and naval expeditions sought fame and fortune in the distant reaches of the South Sea. Beginning with the voyage of Francis Drake in the 1570s and continuing through that of George Anson in the 1740s, a series of predatory English adventurers pursued Spanish treasure, and for a few the dream of riches came true. For most, the voyages ended in disappointment, and sometimes death. This engrossing book investigates these maritime adventures and how they were described in popular accounts of the time―accounts that affected English consciousness and perceptions of the wider world and that influenced the planning and nature of the later great voyages of James Cook and others. Glyndwr Williams, a leading expert on the exploration of the Pacific Ocean, draws on printed accounts of South Sea voyages as well as unpublished records―buccaneer journals, expedition papers, and government documents from public and private archives. For English seamen preying on Spanish trade and treasure, the South Sea was limited to the waters lapping the shores of Chile, Peru, and Mexico. But the vision was wider for others, Williams reveals. Cartographers at home in England, untrammeled by the constraints and dangers of actual voyaging, produced speculative maps with a vast Terra Australis Incognita, with fabulous Islands of Solomon, and with a promised short passage from Atlantic to Pacific. Satirical and utopian writers from Joseph Hall to Jonathan Swift found ample space in the wide ocean for their fictional travelers. And contemporary published voyage accounts―marvelous, though not necessarily reliable―further blurred the line between real and imaginary, contributing to the alluring, exotic image of the South Sea that took root in English folk memory and long outlasted the age of the buccaneers.

The Great South Sea: English Voyages and Encounters, 1570-1750

Tales of the intrepid early naturalists who set sail on dangerous voyages of discovery in the vast, unknown Pacific On the great Pacific discovery expeditions of the “long eighteenth century,” naturalists for the first time were commonly found aboard ships sailing forth from European ports. Lured by intoxicating opportunities to discover exotic and perhaps lucrative flora and fauna unknown at home, these men set out eagerly to collect and catalogue, study and document an uncharted natural world. This enthralling book is the first to describe the adventures and misadventures, discoveries and dangers of this devoted and sometimes eccentric band of explorer-scholars. Their individual experiences are uniquely their own, but together their stories offer a new perspective on the extraordinary era of Pacific exploration and the achievements of an audacious generation of naturalists. Historian Glyn Williams illuminates the naturalist’s lot aboard ship, where danger alternated with boredom and quarrels with the ship’s commander were the norm. Nor did the naturalist’s difficulties end upon returning home, where recognition for years of work often proved elusive. Peopled with wonderful characters and major figures of Enlightenment science—among them Louis Antoine de Bouganville, Joseph Banks, John Reinhold Forster, Captain Cook, and Charles Darwin—this book is a gripping account of a small group of scientific travelers whose voyages of discovery were to change perceptions of the natural world.

Naturalists at Sea: Scientific Travellers from Dampier to Darwin

Professionals & Academics

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Books by Williams, Glyn

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Williams, Glyn. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Voyages of Delusion: The Search Northwest Passage in the Age of Reason

Voyages of Delusion: The Search for the North West Passage in the Age of Reason

The Prize of All the Oceans

The Prize of All the Oceans: Commodore Anson's Daring Voyage and Triumphant Capture of the Spanish Treasure Galleon

Arctic Labyrinth: The Quest For The Northwest Passage

Voyages of Delusion: The Quest for the Northwest Passage

The Great South Sea: English Voyages and Encounters, 1570-1750

Naturalists at Sea: Scientific Travellers from Dampier to Darwin

Naturalists at Sea: Scientific Travellers from Dampier to Darwin

Naturalists at Sea: Scientific Travellers from Dampier to Darwin