The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Encounters in the South Seas [Hardcover]

Professor Anne Salmond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 2003

This vivid book retells the story of Captain Cook's great voyages in the South Seas, focusing on the encounters between the explorers and the island peoples they "discovered." While Cook and his men were initially confounded by the Polynesians, they were also curious. Cook and his crew soon formed friendships-and often more intimate relationships-with the islanders. The islanders, who initially were not certain if the Englishmen were even human, came to experiment with Western customs and in some cases joined the voyagers on their expeditions. But familiarity quickly bred contempt. Shipboard discipline was threatened by these new relationships, and the culture of the islands was also changed forever. Captain Cook, initially determined to act as an enlightened leader, saw his resolve falter during the third voyage. Amicable relations turned hostile, culminating in Cook's violent death on the shores of Hawaii. In this masterful account of Cook's voyages, Anne Salmond-a preeminent authority on the history of the south seas-reimagines two worlds that collided in the eighteenth century, and the enduring impact of that collision.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 538 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1 edition (August 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300100922
• ISBN-13: 978-0300100921
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #665,461 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( C ) > Cook, James

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars spanning the cultural divide, December 2, 2003

By 

W. Hamilton (NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Encounters in the South Seas (Hardcover)

Salmond's superb account of Cook's Pacific exploration tells the story from the perspectives of both Europeans and Polynesians. It places Cook as a 'player' in the islands' internal intrigues and power struggles, especially of the Maori and the Taihitians, while beautifully delineating the various and changing responses of their 'discoverers' to the Pacific 'paradise'. Cook's portrayal is highly convincing, and the book assembles a brilliant argument for its conclusions about his violent end. Salmond's work is informed by an impressive anthropological knowledge, but it reads also as a sensitive exploration of personality and as a compelling adventure narrative. I have read a good many historical treatments of this material, and Salmond's work is among the best.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond the voyages of Cook; examine the brushing of cultures, September 29, 2004

By 

Thomas Donohue - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Encounters in the South Seas (Hardcover)

When an anthropologist writes history one expects a differant perspective. Still, I was stunned by the insight Ms. Salmond exhibited. Most surprising is how densely this book is filled with small, "throwaway" insights that reveal the nature of Georgian England, the impact of the Enlightenment and even the impact of a society, like our own, where the division of wealth has become so radical.

Most important though, is that this book reveals how the nation of New Zealand has remained a Polynesian country despite its population being overwhelmingly of European descent.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trial of the Cannibal Dog, August 9, 2009

By 

Mrs. B. S. Ritchie (Oxford, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Encounters in the South Seas (Hardcover)

Ho hum---another Captain Cook book, I thought at first and it was puzzling as to quite why an anthropologist as competent as Anne Salmond would , besides as a "money spinner", bother to write yet ANOTHER book on a topic of which there seemed little else to say...a topic which had been so completely "done".

HOWEVER...a few pages into "The Trial of the Cannibal Dog", the answer became very apparent. This book is a masterful synthesis of history and anthropology, quietly, jargonlessly and in flowing prose incorporating all the most recent anthropological theoretical debate as to how "history" is made through subjective social and cultural interaction within historical and cultural structures combined with the latest historical scholarship on the events leading up to the death of Captain Cook in Hawaii. As such, this book is an exceedingly "readable" exposition of the life, times, cultural contexts and social interactive processes which resulted in an iconic "event".