Parkin, Ray.
H.M Bark Endeavour: her place in Australian History with an account of her construction, crew and equipment and a narrative of her voyage on the East Coast of New Holland in the year 1770
Miegunyah Press.
1997.
0522847161.

This magnificent work represents nearly 30 years hard work and the result is something to be proud of. Apparently the author needed an illustration of the Endeavour to use on a Christmas card and, unable to find a suitable one, he set out to research the subject. Being an artist and having had a nautical career Parkin has used his skills and background to produce a record of the ship with text and wonderful plans and drawings.

Interestingly Parkin makes no mention of Karl Heinz Marquardt's equally good book "Captain Cook's Endeavour" published in 1995 that covers very similar territory. What makes Parkin's book different though is his compilation of descriptions of the journey undertaken by the Endeavour up the East Coast of Australia in 1770.

Extracts have been taken from the logs and journals of Cook, Banks and others on board and brought together to describe each passage of the journey. To these Parkin has added commentary and charts.

All-in-all a most attractive work which comprises a book and a set of plans and drawings housed in a slipcase.

John Robson

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 1503, volume 21, number 2 (1998).