Empire Maker

Aleksandr Baranov and Russian Colonial Expansion into Alaska and Northern California

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Empire Maker by Kenneth N. Owens, University of Washington Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Kenneth N. Owens ISBN: 9780295805832
Publisher: University of Washington Press Publication: April 5, 2016
Imprint: University of Washington Press Language: English
Author: Kenneth N. Owens
ISBN: 9780295805832
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Publication: April 5, 2016
Imprint: University of Washington Press
Language: English

A native of northern Russia, Alexander Baranov was a middle-aged merchant trader with no prior experience in the fur trade when, in 1790, he arrived in North America to assume command over Russia’s highly profitable sea otter business. With the title of chief manager, he strengthened his leadership role after the formation of the Russian American Company in 1799. An adventuresome, dynamic, and charismatic leader, he proved to be something of a commercial genius in Alaska, making huge profits for company partners and shareholders in Irkutsk and St. Petersburg while receiving scandalously little support from the homeland.

Baranov receives long overdue attention in Kenneth Owens’s Empire Maker, the first scholarly biography of Russian America’s virtual imperial viceroy. His eventful life included shipwrecks, battles with Native forces, clashes with rival traders and Russian Orthodox missionaries, and an enduring marriage to a Kodiak Alutiiq woman with whom he had two children. In the process, the book reveals maritime Alaska and northern California during the Baranov era as fascinating cultural borderlands, where Russian, English, Spanish, and New England Yankee traders and indigenous peoples formed complex commercial, political, and domestic relationships that continue to influence these regions today.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A native of northern Russia, Alexander Baranov was a middle-aged merchant trader with no prior experience in the fur trade when, in 1790, he arrived in North America to assume command over Russia’s highly profitable sea otter business. With the title of chief manager, he strengthened his leadership role after the formation of the Russian American Company in 1799. An adventuresome, dynamic, and charismatic leader, he proved to be something of a commercial genius in Alaska, making huge profits for company partners and shareholders in Irkutsk and St. Petersburg while receiving scandalously little support from the homeland.

Baranov receives long overdue attention in Kenneth Owens’s Empire Maker, the first scholarly biography of Russian America’s virtual imperial viceroy. His eventful life included shipwrecks, battles with Native forces, clashes with rival traders and Russian Orthodox missionaries, and an enduring marriage to a Kodiak Alutiiq woman with whom he had two children. In the process, the book reveals maritime Alaska and northern California during the Baranov era as fascinating cultural borderlands, where Russian, English, Spanish, and New England Yankee traders and indigenous peoples formed complex commercial, political, and domestic relationships that continue to influence these regions today.

More books from University of Washington Press

Cover of the book Transforming Patriarchy by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book The Rebirth of Bodh Gaya by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book Sacred to the Touch by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book The Wicked Wine of Democracy by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book Building the Golden Gate Bridge by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book Racial Ecologies by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book I'm No Hero by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book Confederacy of Ambition by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book The Self Between by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book Light's Ladder by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book Xinjiang and the Modern Chinese State by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book Eat Everything Before You Die by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book Shiraz in the Age of Hafez by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book Over the Lip of the World by Kenneth N. Owens
Cover of the book Power in the Telling by Kenneth N. Owens
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy