It is February, 1776 in the United Kingdom. A man as famous as you can be at that moment, without being royal or an aristocrat, is Captain James Cook. He has returned from two voyages that have everyone fascinated. He's sitting down at a dinner table set by one of his most admiring fans, Lord Sandwich, John Montagu.
The discussion turns on the fact that there will be a third voyage, and Cook has declined to go. Cook is now the captain in charge of the Greenwich Hospital, which is a post that is a reward for his first two voyages.
I welcome Hampton Sides, the author of The Wide, Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook.
Hampton sat me down to that dinner table, and I listened in. What is the discussion? What is Captain Cook hearing, given that he's already chosen not to go for the third voyage?
Watch the full interview above, or listen to an audio version below:
LINKS:
CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor on YouTube
The John Batchelor Show on Apple Podcasts:
The Final Voyage of Captain Cook