Resolution: A novel of Captain Cook's discovery to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, through the eyes of botanist George Forste

Description

A. N. Wilson's powerful new novel explores the life and times of one of the greatest British explorers, Captain Cook, and the golden age of Britain's period of expansion and exploration. Wilson's protagonist, witness to Cook's brilliance and wisdom, is George Forster, who travelled with Cook as botanist on board the HMS Resolution, on Cook's second expedition to the southern hemisphere, and penned a famous account of the journey. Resolution moves back and forth across time, to depict Forster's time with Cook, and his extraordinary later life, which ended with his death in Paris, during the French Revolution. Wilson once again demonstrates his great powers as a master craftsman of the historical and the human in this richly evoked novel, which brings to life the real and the extraordinary, brilliantly drawing together a remarkable cast of characters in order to look at human endeavour, ingenuity and valour.

A.N. Wilson grew up in Staffordshire and was educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is a prolific and award-winning biographer and celebrated novelist. He lives in North London.

Praise for The Potter's Hand (2012): A rich and rather wonderful novel... It is one of these books which gives the impression of having matured in the imagination for years. One can't, in a short review, do justice to its abundance. It is a cornucopia of a novel... wide in scope, rich in detail, and deep in understanding - Scotsman; Full of fascinating historical detail... [A. N. Wilson's] most obvious fictional flourish, which sees a Cherokee transported to the potteries, is as incredible as it is romantic... a rather magnificent achievement - Daily Mail; This is a splendid story, vividly told * Economist * Praise for The Book of the People (2015): Believe it or not, this is a work of genius - The Times; Wilson's delightful and unexpectedly moving book is characterised by intellectual humility - New Statesman; An elegant and insightful book * The Independent * Wilson's wit and erudition are much in evidence * Sunday Times (Ireland) * Wilson's book is as much a factual account of Forster's life as a piece of historical fiction... Wilson's achievement is to impart a restrained imaginative power that makes its extremes seem credible. * Guardian * All is vividly imagined and the reader follows his adventures breathlessly... an epic book * Country Life * A brilliant novel * Catholic Herald *