In 1776 Captain James Cook set off on his third and final voyage. On board the flagstaff ship was a 25-year-old American named John Ledyard, who was determined to make a name for himself on this expedition. This riveting account based on Ledyard¿s writings brings the dramatic events of that historic expedition to life: the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands by Europeans, the desperate attempts to find the Northwest Passage along the treacherous Alaskan coast, the precariousness of life at sea with dwindling supplies and ships that were falling apart, and the increasingly erratic behavior of Captain Cook. Because of this expedition, neither Ledyard¿s life nor the course of history would ever be the same again. Over 100 illustrations.