Bibliograph

Island of the blue foxes, disaster and triumph on the world's greatest scientific expedition, Stephen R. Bown

Type

Label

Island of the blue foxes, disaster and triumph on the world's greatest scientific expedition, Stephen R. Bown

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-305) and index

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Island of the blue foxes

Nature of contents

dictionariesbibliography

Oclc number

1007823209

Responsibility statement

Stephen R. Bown

Sub title

disaster and triumph on the world's greatest scientific expedition

Summary

The story of the world's largest, longest, and best financed scientific expedition of all time, triumphantly successful, gruesomely tragic, and never before fully told The immense 18th-century scientific journey, variously known as the Second Kamchatka Expedition or the Great Northern Expedition, from St. Petersburg across Siberia to the coast of North America, involved over 3,000 people and cost Peter the Great over one-sixth of his empire's annual revenue. Until now recorded only in academic works, this 10-year venture, led by the legendary Danish captain Vitus Bering and including scientists, artists, mariners, soldiers, and laborers, discovered Alaska, opened the Pacific fur trade, and led to fame, shipwreck, and "one of the most tragic and ghastly trials of suffering in the annals of maritime and arctic history."

Table Of Contents

The edge of the world -- Part one. Europe -- The great embassy -- The first Kamchatka expedition -- The best-laid plans -- Part two. Asia -- St. Petersburg to Siberia -- Quarreling factions -- Phantom islands -- Part three. America -- Bolshaya Zemlya, the great land -- Curious encounters -- The scourge of the sea -- Part four. Nowhere -- Island of the blue foxes -- Death and playing cards -- A new St. Peter -- Russian America

Target audience

adult

Classification

Creator