Russian Colonization of Alaska: Preconditions, Discovery, and Initial Development, 1741-1799

In Russian Colonization of Alaska, Andrei Val’terovich Grinëv examines the sociohistorical origins of the former Russian colonies in Alaska, or “Russian America,” between 1741 and 1799. Beginning with the Second Kamchatka Expedition of Vitus Ivanovich Bering and Aleksei Ilyich Chirikov’s discovery of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands and ending with the formation of the Russian-American Company’s monopoly of the Russian colonial endeavor in the Americas, Russian Colonization of Alaska offers a definitive, revisionist examination of Tsarist Russia’s foray into the imperial contest in North America.Russian Colonization of Alaska is the first comprehensive study to analyze the origin and evolution of Russian colonization based on research into political economy, history, and ethnography. Grinёv’s study elaborates the social, political, spiritual, ideological, personal, and psychological aspects of Russian America. He also accounts for the idiosyncrasies of the natural environment, competition from other North American empires, Alaska Natives, and individual colonial diplomats. The colonization of Alaska, rather than being simply a continuation of the colonization of Siberia by Russians, was instead part of overarching Russian and global history.

About the Author

Andrei Val’terovich Grinëv has a PhD in historical sciences and is a professor in the Graduate School of Social Sciences at the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Russia. He has published more than 150 articles, primarily on the history and ethnology of Russian America. Grinëv is the author of several monographs, including The Tlingit Indians in Russian America, 1741–1867 (Nebraska, 2005). Richard L. Bland is a research associate for the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History. He translated The Tlingit Indians in Russian America, 1741–1867 (Nebraska, 2005).