Mr Sherry has a journalist background and he has put it to good use in this book. It's well researched and well written. He tells the story of European exploration of the Pacific very well. Bringing characters to life from dry historical documents. A side effect of his writing about the Pacific is an overview of European geopolitical history from the 16 to 18th centuries. A bonus. The inhabitants of the various Pacific lands play their part but this is not their history. They left no written documents and so are harder to trace. Sometime it would be good if the story could be told from their point of view. ( )