Play Book Tag discussion

Endeavour: The Ship and the Attitude that Changed the World

The Enlightenment was an age of endeavours. Britain was consumed by the impulse for grand projects. In 1768 the Royal Navy bought a Whitby collier for an expedition to the South Seas. No one could have guessed she would become the most significant ship in the history of British exploration. Her name was Endeavour.

Endeavour was a ship with many lives, famously carrying James Cook on his first great voyage to the Pacific islands. She was there at the Wilkes Riots in London and witnessed the bloody birth of the United States. A Polynesian priest, botanists, the first kangaroo to arrive in Britain and Hessian soldiers were just a few amongst her many passengers. According to Charles Darwin, she helped Cook add a hemisphere to the civilised world. NASA named a space shuttle after her. Yet to others, she was a toxic symbol, responsible for the dispossession and disruption of societies.

For the first time, Peter Moore tells Endeavour’s complete story, exploring the different lives of this remarkable ship -- from the oak that made her to her rich and complex legacy.

Joy and I are buddy reading this book-Everyone is welcome

Well I really should! I’ll see if I can find it

I have started and need to finish before it's due back to the library. I like that it is organized around the three functions that the ship performed – a trader, an explorer, and a warship. I recently read a book I called a "biography" of a city (The Fires of Vesuvius) and this one is similar - a "biography" of a ship.

It starts with the acorn that seeded the tree that became the wood used to build it. This seemed a bit much to me, but it gives the author a platform to share information that is not directly related to the ship. Moore is clearly enthused about his material!

Not sure where you are at, but I finished through Chapter 3-my notes are below.

Yes, I was shaking my head a bit with the beginning but then, after I got deeper into the book, that sort of made sense to me. I also said to myself " a bio of a ship? well that is different". And truly it is not at all what I expected. The story of Charles Stuart hiding in the oak tree and Oak Apple day, and other obscure mentions of trees piqued my interest more.

Also very interesting, was the lifespan of these durable ships. I think it is in another book I am reading The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire. The Mayflower having started out as one of these ships as a war ship or merchant ship? Or was it in this book? I am just not sure right now.

I loved the reminisce of the Oak being a meeting place for villagers. Where I grew-up (before disease invaded), my neighborhood was filled with these majestic trees. Meet you at the Mama Oak, an often used phrase brings back lots of memories.

Again, The Seven Years war pops up in our reading. It all comes to light in the book I mentioned above. No surprise that at the time people considered this a World War. I am probably just mentally slow,(🤔) but never considered the unrest in India as a part of it, Now being forced to read about it again, it answers a lot of questions I had from previous reads about India and the dislike of the French and British, between each other. This being the first sea battles where the war machines were re-stocked by the merchant ships.

Conitue to comment Joy-but mark your pat with the oag enumber or chapter you are referencing, no need to use spoiles as long as I reference were you are at,

I am finding this much better than the acorn first lead to believe. The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire is slow and confusing at times and chance of me finishing this before that are pretty high

JoAnne, I am finished with Part 2, the section that discusses Trade. To be honest, I did not find these chapters (2,3,4) very interesting. Lots of discussion of politics and economics of the time and minibiographies of people I did not know much about (e.g., Wilkes, Milner, Lord Hawke) and a few more well-known (e.g. Benjamin Franklin). The whole shipbuilding business & colliers is fine,but reminds me a bit of the whaling section put into Melville's Moby Dick. The book is extremely detailed, perhaps too detailed for me, or maybe I was just expecting something different. It could get better, though, because the next section, Part 3, on Captain Cook's voyage is what I'm most interested in.

I agree with all the Trade-the boat building was interesting, but I could have done with less. Yes, I too want the Capt. Cook part. As I said earlier this bio of boat was not what I was expecting either. I am having a rough enough time with Anarchy, and was hoping this one would be a bit faster...hopefully both get better for me. Back at it tonight-not far from part 3

So, I've finished with Part 3: Exploration (chapters 6 - 9) and loved it! I am sure there are other books about Captain Cook's voyage, but I haven't read too many, so this was just wonderful for me. I loved the part where the ship (view spoiler)[gets stuck on a reef and the dramatic scenes and risks they take in getting it off - plus, all the information about Australia and New Zealand).(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I have not picked it back up. I fell way behind on Anarchy, so I concentrated on that the last few nights. I am glad to hear that it gets better though. Will check back in tomorrow or Friday.

No worries, take your time. I'm just posting my thoughts while it's top of mind. :-)

I read Blue Lattitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before and greatly enjoyed it.

Well I have made some progress, both here and with Anarchy. Last night was non-fiction night for me ;)

This goes back a few pages (page 82 to be exact) I am not sure why, but I really loved this line

"And then, high above the ship, high above the clouds, into the heavens and towards the firmament of the stars, the planet Venus was traveling on its orbit, soon to intersect the space between earth and the sun"

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Linnacus. I have heard of him but this gave me a deeper understanding about exactly what his contribution to science was. Although you would expect this reaction in that era, I still laughed at his studies being called ". "loathsome harlotry" Those poor upstanding, proper women who adored flowers yet now had to look at them as sexual beings😂🤣.

This takes me to about page 145-I am enjoying it much more now that we are out of the shipping building phase!

I have come across Linnaeus in other reading (due to my background in science), and this was a nice refresher for me. I love the comment about ladies and their flowers - I'm sure it was quite a shocker for them to find out about "flower sex"!

I am finding this nicely written in places, interspersed with the digressions into areas of interest to the author (but not necessarily to me). It is quite a mixed bag.

I am currently in Part Four: War, which begins with the aftermath of the Endeavour voyage - it is interesting that he says "it was, perhaps, difficult to pinpoint exactly what the Endeavour voyage had achieved. Nothing new had really been found”. This is such a different view than I have read before. As a scientific trip back then, how could they not find new things? Also how does this support the subtitle (The Ship That Changed the World)?

In Chapter 11, I liked the information about the Falkland Islands and the involvement of Lord Sandwich. This is the point where the function of the ship changes from science to war.

We then start getting into some of the information about the American Revolution (chapter 12), which you and I and others here have read before. The author is able to keep it to the pertinent details, which I appreciated. I was particularly taken with the vivid passages about Lord Sandwich transporting 200+ Hessian mercenaries to America to participate in the war, particularly this description: “When sailing in the Pacific as Endeavour, the ship had emitted a mystic air. Often her power came from her strangeness, her unknown capacities or from incomplete under­standings of her technology. By contrast, in New York people were all too aware of the significance of these transports. As they watched the Hessians disembark with their equipment and munitions, everyone knew what was to come”.

I am now in chapter 13, so not too far from finishing.

I found it sad that this glorious ship became a prison ship (now named Lord Sandwich) and have to agree with the author that it “had become a perversion of everything Endeavour had represented”. At least in its other incarnations is was being used in a positive manner. This chapter also describes (view spoiler)[its scuttling in Rhode Island, which is the way most biographies end - with the death of the protagonist. (hide spoiler)]

I enjoyed the epilogue (“Endeavours”) that mentions the many uses of the name across the centuries.

Overall, this is a bit of a mixed bag for me. Some parts were excellent and other parts dragged. I think the reader's enjoyment will depend on their overall interest level in the wide variety of subject matter. It's probably a 3.5 for me.

I am trying to finish up this week-I have all the things I want to mention tagged, and I will be back when I complete-Already in agreement that it is a mixed bag-

Part 3 was a breeze to get through- this is what I was waiting for! I learned so much about the journey and the people ( I especially liked the inclusion of the native that Banks picked up-books not near and I cannot remember the name). I tried putting myself in the mindset of the natives-Can you imagine seeing this huge object in your backyard? I was thinking it would be like an alien space ship landing in my sight. Did you have the illustrations? There was a picture an Australian drew that was on that same vein.

It was awful (view spoiler)[ to read about all the stuff that had to go overboard, to get off the reef, at least Banks still had the drawings and notes, I hope anyway! (hide spoiler)]

Have you read Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before ? I think I am going to add it so that I can read more about Cook.

Starting part 4 tonight and hopefully will finish up in a day or two

I have not read Blue Latitudes, but I'll check it out. Sounds like something I would enjoy.

Blue Latitudes is really enjoyable. It combines history with a travel adventure. Tony Horwitz was a good writer with a sense of humor. I've wanted to read more by him.

I finished.

I was a little disheartened to learn that (view spoiler)[Tupaia did not finish the journey back to England (hide spoiler)]

Not the book I was anticipated. It got tedious for me, and really the only section I enjoyed was of course the journey through the South Seas. I am going to check out more about Cook. The Horwitz book seems a little more light and that will probably what I pick up first so I do not get discouraged.

Joanne wrote: "I finished.

I was a little disheartened to learn that [spoilers removed]

Not the book I was anticipated. It got tedious for me, and really the only section I enjoyed was of course the journey thr..."

Looks like we had similar feelings on this one. Still, it's fun to read these types of books together.

It is always good to have a buddy 😁

I especially appreciate your interest in non-fiction!

Thanks Joy, I appreciate and enjoy your interest and company too. NF teaches me, something I can never let go of.