The mystery of the disappearance of Jean - Francois de La Perouse in 1788 during his long voyage of discovery in the Pacific was solved almost 40 years later, yet it still fascinates people and expeditions continue to search for his body and the remains of his ships. What was it about this man that has exerted such an influence over so many gene...

After James Cook, La Perouse is undeniably the major explorer of the Pacific in the eighteenth century. Leaving France in 1785, his expedition spent two and a half years in the Pacific before vanishing totally after his departure from New South Wales in early 1788. The mystery of La Perouse's disappearance and its solution almost 40 years later have attracted considerable attention, at times overshadowing the accomplishments of the expedition. For example, the expedition was the first to visit California, and the first to survey the almost unknown seas north of Japan and the coast of Siberia. This major new biography looks at La Perouse the man, his family background and early career, his years in the Indian Ocean, his part in the American War of Independence, and the sad, romantic story of his marriage. It then follows him and his companions on his great voyage.

French explorer and naval officer Jean-Franois de la Prouse (1741 - 88) was, after James Cook, the greatest explorer of the Pacific in the eighteenth century. In 1785, La Perouse was commissioned by Louis XVI to head an expedition into the uncharted regions of the Pacific Ocean. Setting out from France, the expedition over the next three years was the first to map the coasts of California, Alaska, and Siberia. From there, La Prouse continued to Easter Island and Hawaii, where La Prouse Bay bears his name. After a stop in Botany Bay, Australia, La Prouse's two ships set out for the Solomon Islands. En route, they encountered a storm and were sunk; despite search efforts over the centuries, no trace of the wreckage of La Prouse's ships has been found. Where Fate Beckons tells the story of La Prouse's life and adventures, along the way providing a lively introduction to the world of French colonialism, the end of the Age of Exploration, and French society in the years leading to the French Revolution.

DIVDIVTales of the intrepid early naturalists who set sail on dangerous voyages of discovery in the vast, unknown Pacific/div/div

In this comprehensive study, Kenneth Morgan provides an authoritative account of European exploration and discovery in Australia. The book presents a detailed chronological overview of European interests in the Australian continent, from initial speculations about the 'Great Southern Land' to the major hydrographic expeditions of the 19th century. In particular, he analyses the early crossings of the Dutch in the 17th century, the exploits of English 'buccaneer adventurer' William Dampier, the famous voyages of James Cook and Matthew Flinders, and the little-known French annexation of Australia in 1772. Introducing new findings and drawing on the latest in historiographical research, this book situates developments in navigation, nautical astronomy and cartography within the broader contexts of imperial, colonial, and maritime history.

In this work, Buschmann incorporates neglected Spanish visions into the European perceptions of the emerging Pacific world. The book argues that Spanish diplomats and intellectuals attempted to create an intellectual link between the Americas and the Pacific Ocean.

Why is it that we so readily accept the boundary lines drawn around nations or around regions like ‘Asia’ as though they were natural and self-evident, when in fact they are so mutable and often so very arbitrary? What happens to people not only when the borders they seek to cross become heavily guarded, but also when new borders are drawn straight through the middle of their lives? The essays in this book address these questions by starting from small places on the borderlands of East Asia and looking outwards from the small towards the large, asking what these ‘minor pasts’ tell us about the grand narratives of history. In the process, it takes the reader on a journey from Renaissance European visions of ‘Tartary’, through nineteenth-century racial theorising, imperial cartography and indigenous experiences of modernity, to contemporary debates about Big History in an age of environmental crisis.

Interposed between the natural world in all its diversity and the edited form in which we encounter it in literature, imagery and the museum, lie the multiple practices of the naturalists in selecting, recording and preserving the specimens from which our world view is to be reconstituted. The factors that weigh at every stage are here dissected, analysed and set within a historical narrative that spans more than five centuries. During that era, every aspect evolved and changed, as engagement with nature moved from a speculative pursuit heavily influenced by classical scholarship to a systematic science, drawing on advanced theory and technology. Far from being neutrally objective, the process of representing nature is shown as fraught with constraint and compromise. With a Foreword by Sir David Attenborough Contributors are: Marie Addyman, Peter Barnard, Paul D. Brinkman, Ian Convery, Peter Davis, Felix Driver, Florike Egmond, Annemarie Jordan Gschwend, Geoff Hancock, Stephen Harris, Hanna Hodacs, Stuart Houston, Dominik Huenniger, Rob Huxley, Charlie Jarvis, Malgosia Nowak-Kemp, Shepard Krech III, Mark Lawley, Arthur Lucas, Marco Masseti, Geoff Moore, Pat Morris, Charles Nelson, Robert Peck, Helen Scales, Han F. Vermeulen, and Glyn Williams.

This title offers an incisive look at how interpretations of the Atlantic world have changed over time and from a variety of national perspectives. This volume discusses key areas of the Atlantic world, including the British, Dutch, French, Iberian, and African Atlantic, as well as the movement of ideas, peoples, and goods.