Listen free for 30 days
-
The Wide Wide Sea
- Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $29.14
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
You may also enjoy...
-
MeatEater's American History: The Long Hunters (1761-1775)
- Written by: Steven Rinella, Clay Newcomb
- Narrated by: Steven Rinella, Clay Newcomb
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Steven Rinella (The MeatEater Podcast) and Clay Newcomb (MeatEater's Bear Grease podcast) gather listeners for a new round of stories, this time drawing from the lives of the rugged Long Hunters, who include such figures as Daniel Boone, Henry Skaggs, and Kasper Mansker. These were the commercial hunters and trappers who explored and exploited the First Far West, the land across the Appalachian Mountains, in the era between the Seven Years War and the American Revolution—one of the most fabled periods of American history.
-
-
I’m ready for shower shower I’ll shower and shower ready ready I’m just going to shower
- By Jessica Hamilton on 2024-02-21
Written by: Steven Rinella, and others
-
In the Kingdom of Ice
- The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
- Written by: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: The North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of "Arctic Fever." The ship sailed into uncharted seas, but soon was trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was breached. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew abandoned the ship.
-
-
Not written by a lover of artic exploration
- By Alexander Turner on 2020-01-09
Written by: Hampton Sides
-
Blood and Thunder
- An Epic of the American West
- Written by: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1846, the Army of the West marched through Santa Fe, en route to invade and occupy the Western territories claimed by Mexico. Fueled by the new ideology of “Manifest Destiny,” this land grab would lead to a decades-long battle between the United States and the Navajos, the fiercely resistant rulers of a huge swath of mountainous desert wilderness.
-
-
A grand story filled with tragedy and hope
- By Matt on 2018-12-04
Written by: Hampton Sides
-
Labyrinth of Ice
- The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition
- Written by: Buddy Levy
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In July 1881, Lt. A. W. Greely and his crew of 24 scientists and explorers were bound for the last region unmarked on global maps. Their goal: Farthest North. What would follow was one of the most extraordinary and terrible voyages ever made. Greely and his men confronted every possible challenge - vicious wolves, sub-zero temperatures, and months of total darkness - as they set about exploring one of the most remote, unrelenting environments on the planet. In May 1882, they broke the 300-year-old record, and returned to camp to eagerly await the resupply ship. Only nothing came.
-
-
Excellent book!
- By Anonymous User on 2023-06-24
Written by: Buddy Levy
-
Madhouse at the End of the Earth
- The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
- Written by: Julian Sancton
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters.
-
-
One of the best of this genre!
- By Nicholas Yaremchuk on 2023-09-22
Written by: Julian Sancton
-
River of Darkness
- Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
- Written by: Buddy Levy
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1541, the brutal conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his well-born lieutenant Francisco Orellana set off from Quito in search of La Canela, South America's rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, "the golden man". Driving an enormous retinue of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, hunting dogs, and other animals across the Andes, they watched their proud expedition begin to disintegrate even before they descended into the nightmarish jungle, following the course of a powerful river.
-
-
Great story and great voice
- By Luc on 2023-06-25
Written by: Buddy Levy
-
MeatEater's American History: The Long Hunters (1761-1775)
- Written by: Steven Rinella, Clay Newcomb
- Narrated by: Steven Rinella, Clay Newcomb
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Steven Rinella (The MeatEater Podcast) and Clay Newcomb (MeatEater's Bear Grease podcast) gather listeners for a new round of stories, this time drawing from the lives of the rugged Long Hunters, who include such figures as Daniel Boone, Henry Skaggs, and Kasper Mansker. These were the commercial hunters and trappers who explored and exploited the First Far West, the land across the Appalachian Mountains, in the era between the Seven Years War and the American Revolution—one of the most fabled periods of American history.
-
-
I’m ready for shower shower I’ll shower and shower ready ready I’m just going to shower
- By Jessica Hamilton on 2024-02-21
Written by: Steven Rinella, and others
-
In the Kingdom of Ice
- The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
- Written by: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: The North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of "Arctic Fever." The ship sailed into uncharted seas, but soon was trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was breached. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew abandoned the ship.
-
-
Not written by a lover of artic exploration
- By Alexander Turner on 2020-01-09
Written by: Hampton Sides
-
Blood and Thunder
- An Epic of the American West
- Written by: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1846, the Army of the West marched through Santa Fe, en route to invade and occupy the Western territories claimed by Mexico. Fueled by the new ideology of “Manifest Destiny,” this land grab would lead to a decades-long battle between the United States and the Navajos, the fiercely resistant rulers of a huge swath of mountainous desert wilderness.
-
-
A grand story filled with tragedy and hope
- By Matt on 2018-12-04
Written by: Hampton Sides
-
Labyrinth of Ice
- The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition
- Written by: Buddy Levy
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In July 1881, Lt. A. W. Greely and his crew of 24 scientists and explorers were bound for the last region unmarked on global maps. Their goal: Farthest North. What would follow was one of the most extraordinary and terrible voyages ever made. Greely and his men confronted every possible challenge - vicious wolves, sub-zero temperatures, and months of total darkness - as they set about exploring one of the most remote, unrelenting environments on the planet. In May 1882, they broke the 300-year-old record, and returned to camp to eagerly await the resupply ship. Only nothing came.
-
-
Excellent book!
- By Anonymous User on 2023-06-24
Written by: Buddy Levy
-
Madhouse at the End of the Earth
- The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
- Written by: Julian Sancton
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters.
-
-
One of the best of this genre!
- By Nicholas Yaremchuk on 2023-09-22
Written by: Julian Sancton
-
River of Darkness
- Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
- Written by: Buddy Levy
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1541, the brutal conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his well-born lieutenant Francisco Orellana set off from Quito in search of La Canela, South America's rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, "the golden man". Driving an enormous retinue of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, hunting dogs, and other animals across the Andes, they watched their proud expedition begin to disintegrate even before they descended into the nightmarish jungle, following the course of a powerful river.
-
-
Great story and great voice
- By Luc on 2023-06-25
Written by: Buddy Levy
-
Dominion
- The Railway and the Rise of Canada
- Written by: Stephen Bown
- Narrated by: Wayne Ward
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late 19th century, demand for fur was in sharp decline. This could have spelled economic disaster for the venerable Hudson's Bay Company. But an idea emerged in political and business circles in Ottawa and Montreal to connect the disparate British colonies into a single entity that would stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific. With over 3,000 kilometers of track, much of it driven through wildly inhospitable terrain, the CPR would be the longest railroad in the world and the most difficult to build. Its construction was the defining event of its era.
-
-
Woke garbage
- By Can't Read Enough - Kindle Rocks! on 2023-12-15
Written by: Stephen Bown
-
The Wager
- A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
- Written by: David Grann
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, David Grann
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia.
-
-
Worst narration I’ve heard on Audible
- By Murray Campbell on 2023-12-10
Written by: David Grann
-
The Lost City of Z
- A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
- Written by: David Grann
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sensational disappearance that made headlines around the world. A quest for truth that leads to death, madness or disappearance for those who seek to solve it. The Lost City of Z is a blockbuster adventure narrative about what lies beneath the impenetrable jungle canopy of the Amazon. After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, acclaimed New Yorker writer David Grann set out to find out what happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett and his quest for the Lost City of Z.
-
-
Interesting but convoluted.
- By Mona_Lisa on 2023-01-30
Written by: David Grann
-
Farther Than Any Man
- The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook
- Written by: Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the annals of seafaring and exploration, there is one name that immediately evokes visions of the open ocean, billowing sails, visiting strange, exotic lands previously uncharted, and civilizations never before encountered - Captain James Cook. Full of realistic action, lush descriptions of places and events, and fascinating historical characters such as King George III and the soon-to-be-notorious Master William Bligh, Dugard's gripping account of the life and death of Captain James Cook is a thrilling story of a discoverer hell-bent on going farther than any man.
-
-
Farther then any man
- By Anonymous User on 2022-05-10
Written by: Martin Dugard
-
And There Was Light
- Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
- Written by: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Jon Meacham
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hated and hailed, excoriated and revered, Abraham Lincoln was at the pinnacle of American power when secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions bound up with money, race, identity, and faith. In him we can see the possibilities of the presidency as well as its limitations. This book tells the story of Lincoln from his birth on the Kentucky frontier to his leadership during the Civil War to his tragic assassination: his rise, his self-education, his loves, his bouts of depression, his political failures, his deepening faith, and his persistent conviction that slavery must end.
-
-
Swimming in Genius
- By paul summerville on 2023-07-10
Written by: Jon Meacham
-
Surprise, Kill, Vanish
- The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins
- Written by: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 19 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, the untold story of the CIA's secret paramilitary units.
-
-
Great story narrated by a robot
- By Kareem on 2019-10-12
Written by: Annie Jacobsen
-
Poachers Were My Prey
- Eighteen Years as an Undercover Wildlife Officer
- Written by: R. T. Stewart, W. H. "Chip" Gross
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poachers Were My Prey chronicles R. T. Stewart's many exciting undercover adventures, detailing the techniques he used in putting poachers behind bars. It also reveals, for the first time, the secrets employed by undercover wildlife officers in catching the bad guys.
-
-
Boring
- By Anonymous User on 2024-01-22
Written by: R. T. Stewart, and others
-
The Company
- The Rise and Fall of the Hudson’s Bay Empire
- Written by: Stephen R. Bown
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Hudson’s Bay Company started out small in 1670, trading practical manufactured goods for furs with the indigenous inhabitants of inland subarctic Canada. Controlled by a handful of English aristocrats, it expanded into a powerful political force that ruled the lives of many thousands of people - from the lowlands south and west of Hudson Bay, to the tundra, the great plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Northwest.
-
-
Disappointing
- By James Edwards on 2022-02-22
Written by: Stephen R. Bown
-
Sons of Valor
- The Sons of Valor Series, Book 1
- Written by: Brian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Navy SEAL Keith “Chunk” Redman has been one of the military’s top doorkickers since the day he pinned on his trident: loyal, single-minded, lethal. Tasked to lead a new, covert team of Tier One SEALs—the most elite special operators in the world—Chunk can no longer simply rely on the status quo. To safeguard America, he needs help to stay a step ahead of its adversaries.
-
-
Another Hit
- By Anonymous User on 2022-02-02
Written by: Brian Andrews, and others
-
Ridgeline
- A Novel
- Written by: Michael Punke
- Narrated by: Tatanka Means, Amanda Stribling, Michael Punke
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1866, with the country barely recovered from the Civil War, new war breaks out on the western frontier - a clash of cultures between a young, ambitious nation and the Native tribes who have lived on the land for centuries. Colonel Henry Carrington arrives in Wyoming’s Powder River Valley to lead the US Army in defending the opening of a new road for gold miners and settlers. Carrington intends to build a fort in the middle of critical hunting grounds, the home of the Lakota.
-
-
Riveting
- By Yvan on 2022-05-24
Written by: Michael Punke
-
The Terror
- A Novel
- Written by: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Tom Sellwood
- Length: 28 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The men onboard HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the Terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape.
-
-
Fantastic!
- By Anonymous User on 2018-08-15
Written by: Dan Simmons
-
The Bill Bryson BBC Radio Collection
- Divided by a Common Language, Journeys in English and More
- Written by: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Bryson is the world's funniest travel writer, and a master of comic observation. His hugely popular books, spanning topics from linguistics to Shakespeare to the human body, have sold over 16 million copies and been translated into 30 languages, and his 2003 science book A Short History of Nearly Everything won the prestigious Aventis and Descartes prizes.
Written by: Bill Bryson
Publisher's Summary
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “thrilling and superbly crafted” (The Wall Street Journal) account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook’s death in Hawaii, and left a complex and controversial legacy still debated to this day.
“Hampton Sides, an acclaimed master of the nonfiction narrative, has taken on Cook’s story and retells it for the 21st century.”—Los Angeles Times
On July 12th, 1776, Captain James Cook, already lionized as the greatest explorer in British history, set off on his third voyage in his ship the HMS Resolution. Two-and-a-half years later, on a beach on the island of Hawaii, Cook was killed in a conflict with native Hawaiians. How did Cook, who was unique among captains for his respect for Indigenous peoples and cultures, come to that fatal moment?
Hampton Sides’ bravura account of Cook’s last journey both wrestles with Cook’s legacy and provides a thrilling narrative of the titanic efforts and continual danger that characterized exploration in the 1700s. Cook was renowned for his peerless seamanship, his humane leadership, and his dedication to science–the famed naturalist Joseph Banks accompanied him on his first voyage, and Cook has been called one of the most important figures of the Age of Enlightenment. He was also deeply interested in the native people he encountered. In fact, his stated mission was to return a Tahitian man, Mai, who had become the toast of London, to his home islands. On previous expeditions, Cook mapped huge swaths of the Pacific, including the east coast of Australia, and initiated first European contact with numerous peoples. He treated his crew well, and endeavored to learn about the societies he encountered with curiosity and without judgment.
Yet something was different on this last voyage. Cook became mercurial, resorting to the lash to enforce discipline, and led his two vessels into danger time and again. Uncharacteristically, he ordered violent retaliation for perceived theft on the part of native peoples. This may have had something to do with his secret orders, which were to chart and claim lands before Britain’s imperial rivals could, and to discover the fabled Northwest Passage. Whatever Cook’s intentions, his scientific efforts were the sharp edge of the colonial sword, and the ultimate effects of first contact were catastrophic for Indigenous people around the world. The tensions between Cook’s overt and covert missions came to a head on the shores of Hawaii. His first landing there was harmonious, but when Cook returned after mapping the coast of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, his exploitative treatment of the Hawaiians led to the fatal encounter.
At once a ferociously-paced story of adventure on the high seas and a searching examination of the complexities and consequences of the Age of Exploration, THE WIDE WIDE SEA is a major work from one of our finest narrative nonfiction writers.
What the critics say
“Gripping . . . It isn’t possible in this short space to describe Side’s hair-raising accounts of the journey . . . Sides recreates the newness of the experience, the vast differences in and among Indigenous cultures, and natural phenomena that were as terrifying as they were wondrous."—The Washington Post
"Hampton Sides, an acclaimed master of the nonfiction narrative, has taken on Cook’s story and retells it for the 21st century . . . The result is a work that will enthrall Cook’s admirers, inform his critics and entertain everyone in between."—Los Angeles Times
“The great explorer’s ill-starred last mission and violent death in Hawaii are recreated in swashbuckling detail…an astounding tale and Sides delivers the exciting episodes with a pressing narrative urgency. The cast of characters is a joy."–The Sunday Times (London)
More from the same
What listeners say about The Wide Wide Sea
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Raton de Biblioteca
- 2024-04-11
WONDERFUL
I've read a lot of books about the nautical adventures of British and other seafarers in 18th century.
Just when I thought I had heard or read it all, this book blew me out the water. No pun intended. I could not stop listening!
Superb research and enough reflection for a 21st century reader. In the immortal words of LP Hartley, "the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there."
And the narration was EXCELLENT. So important to do justice to a great book which is not always the case.
Loved it all. And a keeper in my library.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2024-04-20
Well told.
Great start to finish. Well researched and great narration. Great start to finish. Well researched and great narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!