[Captain of the Discovery is] a Canadian book [about] Captain George Vancouver, who discovered the coast which bears his name. It seems hard to say that this makes rather dull reading. It is certainly not the matter that is at fault, but there is some lack of spark in the telling. It may be because we never get any real picture of Vancouver himself. All the first chapters are about Captain Cook, with whom Vancouver sailed, and about Cook's voyages and tragic end. We really do not learn anything about Vancouver, who sailed as an Officer Cadet at the age of fifteen, and so far as he is concerned we are not particularly interested when he finally gets command of the "Discovery." This should be a great story and the book has many good points; it is simple and thorough …, the men are heroic in their endurance and...