Friday 29 May 2009

Fur, Fortune, and Empire

Fur, Fortune, and Empire



Author: Eric Jay Dolin
Edition: 1
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: B00AR1PMSC
Price:
You Save: 76%




Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America



A Seattle Times selection for one of Best Non-Fiction Books of 2010
Winner of the New England Historial Association's 2010 James P.Fur, Fortune, and Empire review. Hanlan Award
Winner of the Outdoor Writers Association of America 2011 Excellence in Craft Award, Book Division, First Place

"A compelling and well-annotated tale of greed, slaughter and geopolitics." —Los Angeles Times

From the best-selling author of Leviathan comes this sweeping narrative of one of America's most historically rich industries.

As Henry Hudson sailed up the broad river that would one day bear his name, he grew concerned that his Dutch patrons would be disappointed in his failure to find the fabled route to the Orient. What became immediately apparent, however, from the Indians clad in deer skins and "good furs" was that Hudson had discovered something just as tantalizingRead full reviews of Fur, Fortune, and Empire The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America.

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Fur, Fortune, and Empire
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Fur, Fortune, and Empire The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America
Fur, Fortune, and Empire The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America (Unabridged) - Author: Eric Jay Dolin; Narrator: Tom Weiner; Format: Audio Book (Digital Audiobook Download)

Fur, Fortune, And Empire – The Epic History Of The Fur Trade In America Dolin, E
author eric jay dolin format hardback language english publication year 03 09 2010 subject history military subject 2 history specific subjects title fur fortune and empire the epic history of the fur trade in america author dolin eric jay publisher ww norton co inc publication date jul 12 2010 pages 442 binding hardcover edition 1 st dimensions 6 75 wx 9 75 hx 1 50 d isbn 0393067106 subject history united states colonial period 1600 1775 description traces the rise and fall of the american f

Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fu..., 9781441760630
Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America, ISBN-13: 9781441760630, ISBN-10: 1441760636

Fur, Fortune, and Empire
Fur, Fortune, and Empire



Fur, Fortune, and Empire Reviews


Hanlan Award
Winner of the Outdoor Writers Association of America 2011 Excellence in Craft Award, Book Division, First Place

"A compelling and well-annotated tale of greed, slaughter and geopolitics." —Los Angeles Times

From the best-selling author of Leviathan comes this sweeping narrative of one of America's most historically rich industries.

As Henry Hudson sailed up the broad river that would one day bear his name, he grew concerned that his Dutch patrons would be disappointed in his failure to find the fabled route to the Orient. What became immediately apparent, however, from the Indians clad in deer skins and "good furs" was that Hudson had discovered something just as tantalizing.

The news of Hudson's 1609 voyage to America ignited a fierce competition to lay claim to this uncharted continent, teeming with untapped natural resources.  The result was the creation of an American fur trade, which fostered economic rivalries and fueled wars among the European powers, and later between the United States and Great Britain, as North America became a battleground for colonization and imperial aspirations.

In Fur, Fortune, and Empire, best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin chronicles the rise and fall of the fur trade of old, when the rallying cry was "get the furs while they last." Beavers, sea otters, and buffalos were slaughtered, used for their precious pelts that were tailored into extravagant hats, coats, and sleigh blankets. To read Fur, Fortune, and Empire then is to understand how North America was explored, exploited, and settled, while its native Indians were alternately enriched and exploited by the trade.  As Dolin demonstrates, fur, both an economic elixir and an agent of destruction, became inextricably linked to many key events in American history, including the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812, as well as to the relentless pull of Manifest Destiny and the opening of the West.

This work provides an international cast beyond the scope of any Hollywood epic, including Thomas Morton, the rabble-rouser who infuriated the Pilgrims by trading guns with the Indians; British explorer Captain James Cook, whose discovery in the Pacific Northwest helped launch America's China trade; Thomas Jefferson who dreamed of expanding the fur trade beyond the Mississippi; America's first multimillionaire John Jacob Astor, who built a fortune on a foundation of fur; and intrepid mountain men such as Kit Carson and Jedediah Smith, who sliced their way through an awe inspiring and unforgiving landscape, leaving behind a mythic legacy still resonates today.

Concluding with the virtual extinction of the buffalo in the late 1800s, Fur, Fortune, and Empire is an epic history that brings to vivid life three hundred years of the American experience, conclusively demonstrating that the fur trade played a seminal role in creating the nation we are today. 16 pages of color and 16 pages of black-and-white illustrations

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