Seward's Folly: A New Look at the Alaska Purchase

by Lee A. Farrow

The Alaska Purchase—denounced at the time as “Seward’s Folly” but now seen as a masterstroke—is well known in American history. But few know the rest of the story.
            This book aims to correct that. Lee Farrow offers here a detailed account of just what the Alaska Purchase was, how it came about, its impact at the time, and more. Farrow shows why both America and Russia had plenty of good reasons to want the sale to occur, including Russia’s desire to let go of an unprofitable, hard-to-manage colony and the belief in the United States that securing Alaska could help the nation gain control of British Columbia and generate closer trade ties with Asia . Farrow also delves into the implications of the deal for foreign policy and international diplomacy far beyond Russia and the United States at a moment when the global balance of power was in question.
            A thorough, readable retelling of a story we only think we know, Seward’s Folly will become the standard book on the Alaska Purchase.
 

220 pages, Paperback

Published December 15, 2016

About the author

Lee A. Farrow is Distinguished Teaching Professor of History at Auburn University-Montgomery, USA. She is the author of Seward's Folly: A New Look at the Alaska Purchase (2016), Alexis in America: A Russian Grand Duke's Tour, 1871-1872 (2014) and Between Clan and Crown: The Struggle to Define Noble Property Rights in Imperial Russia (2005).

Reviews

[Greyson]

A deep dive into the Alaska Purchase, focusing on (1) congressional appropriations, (2) international response, and (3) administrative concerns within the territory, particularly Sitka, during the first two decades post-purchase. I had not considered the implications for British Columbia at time of purchase and that annexation of the entire west coast was discussed within Canadian-British political circles. Probably best-read only by Alaska history wonks since it wades deep into the archives and could have used another editorial pass. Great for what it is.

[Ryan Campbell]

Seward’s Folly provides a great history of Russian Alaska and the sale of the territory to the United States. Farrow explores the Russian motivations for selling Alaska to the United States and the difficulty the US government had appropriating the funds for the purchase. The most fascinating part of the work for me was the international reaction, seeing the response of the Great Powers of Europe as well as the forming states of Germany and Italy.