I was born in Anchorage, Alaska. Not a.place I remember. I came into the world on December, 3 1963. I'm March 1964 the ground quaked, Mom ran outside, and the roadway came up and smacked her on the ass. It was time.to get the hell out of Dodge, "so.to speak." Dad was in trouble for beating up an officer but his c. o. liked him and gave him an early discharge...Thus began out retreat home. New Mexico.
Some books that take place in this area of the world...Alaska. They make me.wonder what I may have missed. This book didn't. Matter of fact, it missed the mark. Places still sound beautiful, but maybe it's the writing that made me.awful glad that I'd ended up in beautiful New Mexico. I often think of Alaska,.and what I'm missing. This just made me thankful.to be raised in the.Southwest. Whew!!

I love learning about slices of history that often go untold. I didn't know anything about this event until I read Island of the Blue Foxes. Brown combines history, science, and maritime to bring this expedition to life.

Ever heard of the Kamchatka expedition? Ever wondered how the Russians came to own Alaska? Ever wondered why so many places there bear Bering's name? Ever been curious about why so many animals are Steller's this or Steller's that? Wonder no more. This explains it all. Bown argues that the Kamchatka expeditions are on par with Cook's, Magellan's, de Soto's, Bougainville's, and others. We just didn't know much about it because the Russians were so secretive.

OK. The book's blurb and title sound fantastic. Think The Endurance kind of fantastic. Think "Wow! This sounds amazing and I want to know more." fantastic. Maybe so. But the book doesn't reflect that. At all. I was deeply disappointed by the mostly bald recitation of events. Bown uses diaries, logs, and official documents from the expedition to paint a picture and the picture is dull and uninteresting. There is no emotional focus and, with the exception of Steller's death, nothing gripped me at all.

Waxell, one of the principals, has one of his sons with him. That's a huge deal considering the horror the men endure. And yet, Laurentz, the son, is mentioned only a couple of times. Surely Waxell must have written something in his journal about his fears for his son? And Bering, the ostensible leader of the expedition? We read about his concerns before it gets started. We know he is troubled. But once they set sail, he's virtually non-existent. Yes, he is ill and mostly in his cabin. But, he had to have had thoughts, concerns. Nothing. Almost none of the sailors and scientists are mentioned by name.

This could have been a captivating and brilliant book that showcased a horrifying and amazingly edifying expedition. Instead, a bland recitation that never arouses the senses or the emotions ends up diminishing a perilous journey said to be on par with the greatest expeditions undertaken. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement because I went into this excited.

Despite the blandness of the retelling of events, I did learn a great deal. I learned more about scurvy than I ever dreamed I'd know. I learned who Steller is/was. That alone is pretty big as he became the central character in the narrative. I learned about the Russian/German intellectual confluence. Certainly I learned about an expedition I had never heard of. I just wish the book hadn't been quite so dry. Even the horror was written is such a way as to make it seem commonplace.

For anyone looking at good well-written resource material on the voyage, this one is it.

A thrilling tale of the Russian expedition from Siberia to North America. Bown does an excellent job bringing the explorers, naturalists, and sailors to life, particularly when describing the high tensions in the aftermath of shipwreck and scurvy. It's amazing that any men survived to return to Russia. An excellent exploration of the power of human curiosity and the will to survive.

For some reason, I like reading books about white men going into cold places and dying. Except Norwegians, for some reason my brain believes Norwegians should always make it out alive. I’m not sure why, but it does. I blame National Geographic Museum in Washington DC for all this because I saw an exhibit there about Scott and Amundsen.
This book is about a Russian trek, led by a Dane Vitus Bering (yes, that Bering). Truthfully, when we read about those treks, at least in the Eastern part of American, we tend to focus solely on the British during crazy things. It was refreshing, therefore to read about Russians doing crazy things. It should be noted that I am not an expert on this topic.
Brown does a very good in keeping the reader engaged. First, he sets up the scene, allowing the read to understand the circumstances that the large group of men were dealing with. Unlike the British, the Kamchatka Expedition had to deal with official who had little desire to help the leaders, making food and supplies difficult. The failure of the expedition, it seems, was also that due to politics.
Brown doesn’t hesitate to illustrate the flaws of some of the members of the expedition, but he also shows the good points. In particular, is Stellar who is at once infuriating, yet he is vital to the survival of those who make it.
Perhaps that is the greatest strength of this history – unlike many such book it doesn’t play favorites but presents humanity struggling in a dangerous situation of its own making.