Popular Cook

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33095, 9 December 1972, Page 10

Popular Cook

Captain Cook. By Alls* McLean. Collins 192 pp. Indexlustrations.

Cook is the sort of »ure who will inevitably attract biognhers in veritable swains: a man vose life combines spectacular publicachievements with an insmtable privs. personality. Cook’s voyajes were so refully documented that there has nejr been very much doubt about wha he actually did, but he vas so sucogful in preserving a personal silencehat there is inexhaustible scope for speculation about why he did it all. In his prologue, Alistair McLean s> s that he does not believe that a denitive biography of Cook is “only matter of time,” that psythatrists w. never be able to piece together the an behind the journals. “It is unthirable,” he writes, “that at inmortal hould be subjected to the processes f computerised There immediacy arises thwuestion of whether the immortal doesiot have enough shrines ateady, what firpose a book such as this s expected ■> serve: a certain amour of compterised butchery may be iery welcom in an area which seems tther over-poulated with mumified imtr.rtals. Then is no bibliography, no refcences, no aknowledgement of reseath sources a this book, and one can nd no indtation that Mr McLean ht uncovered any significant new mateal; nor, foi that matter, does he appe; to advanct and substantiate any tnarkable new opinions. All this dig not penaps matter if this book •. accepted for what it is—a fairly lie pictorial biography for readers wt do not want to use the more schoky works—but the author of such awork camot afford to strike such a lf-righteously belligerent stance, evenwith all the guns of Navarone to cov him

However, that is not » deny that readers (especially teen-afc, f or whom the book seems most suitafe) who want a quick-moving, chatty tyraphy will find their needs satisfied w< this book which seems factually relble as far as it goes, as well as bein supported assortment of ustrations. Mr McLean observes that Cook was now the biggest public reltons asset that the Navy had had in gyrations ” and perhaps it is enough th such an asset should be allowed to srpetuate itself in such a book.