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Where the Sea Breaks Its Back: The Epic Story of the Early Naturalist Georg Steller and the Russian Exploration of Alaska
Author Corey Ford writes the classic and moving story of naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, who served on the 1741-42 Russian Alaska expedition with explorer Vitus Bering. Steller was one of Europe's foremost naturalists and the first to document the unique wildlife of the Alaskan coast. In the course of the voyage, Steller made his valuable discoveries and suffered, along with Bering and the crew of the ill-fated ship St. Peter, some of the most grueling experiences in the history of Arctic exploration. First published in 1966, Where the Sea Breaks Its Back was hailed as "among this country's greatest outdoor writing" by Field & Stream magazine, and today continues to enchant and enlighten the new generations of readers about this amazing and yet tragic expedition, and Georg Steller's significant discoveries as an early naturalist.
220 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
September 8, 2020
Have ordered a personal copy - highly recommend
(10/16/19 - Adding fifth star for frequent thoughts of wanting to re-read.)
***
And, a copies Kirkus for perspective:
"KIRKUS REVIEW
Alaska is a corruption of an Aleut word meaning ""the shore where the sea breaks its back."" The present story about the discovery of Alaska by the Dane Vitus Bering (in a Russian ship) during the middle eighteenth century is a truly stirring work. Ford handles the usual man-against-the-elements scenes dexterously and with a fine ear. But it is his constant quotation from the ship's doctor's monograph and diaries that lends the book its solid keel of eloquence. The doctor was Georg Wilhelm Steller, a German, whose writings as a naturalist are acknowledged classics. Ford tries to anchor his story to the near extinction of the sea otter and its present revivification as a species. But Steller steals the book at every comma, until he is vastly more moving a figure than Bering (after whom the Bering Straits are named, and more tragic. Amazingly, the voyage from Russia was ten years in the preparation and Steller had a mere ten hours in Alaska. Yet his descriptions of Eskimos and flora and fauna are piercingly accurate and empathetic. The crew was hit by scurvy and shipwrecked on an island for nearly a year. Meanwhile, Steller went right on writing amid death and blizzards. And he could write! His dissection of an 8000 pound sea-cow, organ by organ, proceeds with dedicated fascination.... The whole book is a labor of love and discovery."
***
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/201506...
Here's a review from Google Books
"Author Corey Ford writes the classic and moving story of naturalist Georg Whilhelm Steller, who served on the 1741-42 Russian Alaska expedition with explorer Vitus Bering. Steller was one of Europe's foremost naturalists and the first to document the unique wildlife of the Alaskan coast. In the course of the voyage, Steller made his valuable discoveries and suffered, along with Bering and the crew of the ill fated brig St. Peter, some of the most grueling experiences in the history of Arctic exploration. First published in 1966, Where the Sea Breaks Its Back was hailed as "among this country's greatest outdoor writing" by Field & Stream magazine, and today continues to enchant and enlighten the new generations of readers about this amazing and yet tragic expedition, and Georg Steller's significant discoveries as an early naturalist."
(10/16/19 - Adding fifth star for frequent thoughts of wanting to re-read.)
***
And, a copies Kirkus for perspective:
"KIRKUS REVIEW
Alaska is a corruption of an Aleut word meaning ""the shore where the sea breaks its back."" The present story about the discovery of Alaska by the Dane Vitus Bering (in a Russian ship) during the middle eighteenth century is a truly stirring work. Ford handles the usual man-against-the-elements scenes dexterously and with a fine ear. But it is his constant quotation from the ship's doctor's monograph and diaries that lends the book its solid keel of eloquence. The doctor was Georg Wilhelm Steller, a German, whose writings as a naturalist are acknowledged classics. Ford tries to anchor his story to the near extinction of the sea otter and its present revivification as a species. But Steller steals the book at every comma, until he is vastly more moving a figure than Bering (after whom the Bering Straits are named, and more tragic. Amazingly, the voyage from Russia was ten years in the preparation and Steller had a mere ten hours in Alaska. Yet his descriptions of Eskimos and flora and fauna are piercingly accurate and empathetic. The crew was hit by scurvy and shipwrecked on an island for nearly a year. Meanwhile, Steller went right on writing amid death and blizzards. And he could write! His dissection of an 8000 pound sea-cow, organ by organ, proceeds with dedicated fascination.... The whole book is a labor of love and discovery."
***
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/201506...
Here's a review from Google Books
"Author Corey Ford writes the classic and moving story of naturalist Georg Whilhelm Steller, who served on the 1741-42 Russian Alaska expedition with explorer Vitus Bering. Steller was one of Europe's foremost naturalists and the first to document the unique wildlife of the Alaskan coast. In the course of the voyage, Steller made his valuable discoveries and suffered, along with Bering and the crew of the ill fated brig St. Peter, some of the most grueling experiences in the history of Arctic exploration. First published in 1966, Where the Sea Breaks Its Back was hailed as "among this country's greatest outdoor writing" by Field & Stream magazine, and today continues to enchant and enlighten the new generations of readers about this amazing and yet tragic expedition, and Georg Steller's significant discoveries as an early naturalist."
January 12, 2022
I am not sure where I found this book, besides the title I went into this blind not knowing much about George Steller except that there are a ton of animals named after him. I also knew nothing about Corey Ford and to be honest still don't know much about him, the wikipedia page was sparse.
The story is typical of 1700's expeditions, extreme hardship usually resulting in death, years and years of planning and slogging just for a very short expedition. I get why the naturalists, officers, etc want to do these trips but for the life of me I can't understand any of the sailors.
Incompetance, politics, weather plagued this journey yet George Steller was supremely focused in what he wanted and managed one of the most amazing classifications of animals and plants of all time. The story is hard to believe but captivating.
It was just a bit dry and I had to skim the fur rush parts otherwise, great book. I think I would only recommend this to armchair captains or history buffs or someone like me who realliy wanted to know who Steller was.
The story is typical of 1700's expeditions, extreme hardship usually resulting in death, years and years of planning and slogging just for a very short expedition. I get why the naturalists, officers, etc want to do these trips but for the life of me I can't understand any of the sailors.
Incompetance, politics, weather plagued this journey yet George Steller was supremely focused in what he wanted and managed one of the most amazing classifications of animals and plants of all time. The story is hard to believe but captivating.
It was just a bit dry and I had to skim the fur rush parts otherwise, great book. I think I would only recommend this to armchair captains or history buffs or someone like me who realliy wanted to know who Steller was.
March 25, 2020
A forgotten classic. The ostensible premise is something like a biography of Georg Steller, who was indeed remarkable and deserving of a biography, but this book isn't really that. Instead, it uses Steller to explore with him and document, partially through his eyes, Bering's second journey to discover whether Eurasia and North America were linked or not. But even here it is much more about natural history than the history of the voyage itself, though one gets both. The human ordeal is told well, mostly on the basis of Steller's notes and those of Lieutenant Sven Waxell, who took over command of the party after Bering's death on the island that bears his name.
The writing is quite effective, even if a little dated. It is not a scholarly book, and there are no footnotes to the many quotations. Somewhere around page 140 out of a little over 200, the sea otter makes its appearance through Steller's observations. After that, it never really leaves the book, and Steller almost seems to take a second place to it. In fact I found myself beginning to be more interested in the fate of the sea otter as a species, which was almost completely wiped out over the next 150 years of plunder, than I was in Steller, whose role grows less important as he departs the scene and becomes weaker in spirit, until he finally fades out in a blur of alcohol.
But the otter endures, and the book's final pages are devoted to it, a strong move on the part of the author, it seems to me, moving from the naturalist to nature. The descriptions of the conditions of the voyage, including the storms, the details of the boats, and the inter-personal conflicts, are all well written. It's not a complete book in the sense that a history or a biography might be, but it is a satisfying one in its blending of narrative, biography, and natural history.
The writing is quite effective, even if a little dated. It is not a scholarly book, and there are no footnotes to the many quotations. Somewhere around page 140 out of a little over 200, the sea otter makes its appearance through Steller's observations. After that, it never really leaves the book, and Steller almost seems to take a second place to it. In fact I found myself beginning to be more interested in the fate of the sea otter as a species, which was almost completely wiped out over the next 150 years of plunder, than I was in Steller, whose role grows less important as he departs the scene and becomes weaker in spirit, until he finally fades out in a blur of alcohol.
But the otter endures, and the book's final pages are devoted to it, a strong move on the part of the author, it seems to me, moving from the naturalist to nature. The descriptions of the conditions of the voyage, including the storms, the details of the boats, and the inter-personal conflicts, are all well written. It's not a complete book in the sense that a history or a biography might be, but it is a satisfying one in its blending of narrative, biography, and natural history.
February 10, 2022
A good introductory book about Georg Steller, framed by a story that's ultimately, and poignantly, about sea otter conservation. Big content warning though, as this book, published in the 1960s, is full of ethnic stereotypes. These stereotypes extend to every ethnicity and nationality described in the book ("buxom blond German women," "incompetent Russians," etc), but there are some terms used to describe Indigenous people that are today considered slurs. The book itself, as Steller himself was, is sympathetic to the Aleuts, Kamchadals, Koryaks, and other nations that were fighting imperial powers, but the language is definitely not up to date.
Steller, the German naturalist who accompanied Bering on his ill-fated voyage to Alaska, was an interesting character, which comes through even in the briefly sketched story here. This is not a spoiler, seeing as all of this happened in the 18th century - eventually Bering and his crew end up stranded on an island off the coast of Kamchatka, almost all of them debilitated and many of them dying of scurvy, their ship grounded and wrecked, and the narrative becomes truly gripping as they pass the winter trying to survive and figure out a way to get back to the mainland. Steller, pushy and opinionated and almost always right, has to struggle to make the crew pay attention to his life-saving instructions.
The descriptions of wildlife are breathtaking, and often painful because Steller was the first and only Western naturalist to describe species that went extinct shortly thereafter. His obvious fascination with these species is juxtaposed against the fact that this voyage really did open the way for the fur trade that devastated both the wildlife and the native cultures of the area. The sea otter stories that bookend the Steller narrative do allow the reader to end on a hopeful note, however, despite the shambles of empire that litter the larger sweep of the story.
Steller, the German naturalist who accompanied Bering on his ill-fated voyage to Alaska, was an interesting character, which comes through even in the briefly sketched story here. This is not a spoiler, seeing as all of this happened in the 18th century - eventually Bering and his crew end up stranded on an island off the coast of Kamchatka, almost all of them debilitated and many of them dying of scurvy, their ship grounded and wrecked, and the narrative becomes truly gripping as they pass the winter trying to survive and figure out a way to get back to the mainland. Steller, pushy and opinionated and almost always right, has to struggle to make the crew pay attention to his life-saving instructions.
The descriptions of wildlife are breathtaking, and often painful because Steller was the first and only Western naturalist to describe species that went extinct shortly thereafter. His obvious fascination with these species is juxtaposed against the fact that this voyage really did open the way for the fur trade that devastated both the wildlife and the native cultures of the area. The sea otter stories that bookend the Steller narrative do allow the reader to end on a hopeful note, however, despite the shambles of empire that litter the larger sweep of the story.
July 17, 2019
Georg Steller was the naturalist/doctor on Vitus Bering's Second Russian Alaska Expedition in 1741-42. Author Corey Ford published this detailed account of the expedition in 1966, centered around Steller. The story extends to an account of Steller's brief life and the aftermath of the expedition (the exploitation of coastal Alaska by Russian fur trappers). The resulting carnage of wildlife and of Native Alaskans will strike the reader as deja vu with respect to the American West. (That was undoubtedly not Bering's or Steller's intent.)
The story of the sea voyage itself is harrowing. One marvels at the endurance and fortitude of these early explorers (every bit as extraordinary as the experiences of Ernest Shackleton or Ferdinand Magellan). This expedition resulted in the confirmation that Alaska existed and the discovery of the Aleutian Islands.
All present day Alaskans and naturalists are familiar with the name Georg Steller, if not the person. Steller’s sea eagle, Steller’s sea lion, Steller’s Jay, and the Steller’s sea cow are all named for him as the discoverer, as are a number of place names. Corey Ford's writing is good. If you are at all interested in the subjects of this book, I would definitely recommend "Where the Sea Breaks Its Back" by Corey Ford.
The story of the sea voyage itself is harrowing. One marvels at the endurance and fortitude of these early explorers (every bit as extraordinary as the experiences of Ernest Shackleton or Ferdinand Magellan). This expedition resulted in the confirmation that Alaska existed and the discovery of the Aleutian Islands.
All present day Alaskans and naturalists are familiar with the name Georg Steller, if not the person. Steller’s sea eagle, Steller’s sea lion, Steller’s Jay, and the Steller’s sea cow are all named for him as the discoverer, as are a number of place names. Corey Ford's writing is good. If you are at all interested in the subjects of this book, I would definitely recommend "Where the Sea Breaks Its Back" by Corey Ford.
January 22, 2021
Normally I wouldn’t read a book with such an obnoxious title, but I was curious to learn about the naturalist who discovered the familiar West Coast Steller jay, Steller sea lion, and Steller greenling. Early on, author Ford explains his title by stating that Alaska is probably an abbreviation of Unalaska, derived from the Aleut word agunalaksh, which means “the shores where the sea breaks its back.” This also answered my question about why there’s a town with the unlikely name of Unalaska, Alaska.
It’s hard to imagine the austerities and challenges of Bering’s Second Kamchatka Expedition, but Ford brings it to life in just over 200 pages. It’s 1741, on two sailing vessels with no auxiliary power, and all supplies must come by dogsled or ship to Avancha Bay. Harsh weather and lack of radio communication adds to the delays, and in the end supplies are sketchy. Peter the Great dies, and Russia’s new ruler adds impossible tasks to the roster of what Bering is to accomplish. His primary task is to determine whether Russia and Alaska are contiguous or separated by water.
Botanist, naturalist, and physician Steller is a feisty character, convinced that he’s always right and none too diplomatic about it. But then, he is usually right. Onboard, his suggestions are ignored by sailors, sometimes with unfortunate results. His outgoing, prickly character contrasts with Captain Bering, a very cautious, avuncular man, yet they become friends. As Bering’s health deteriorates, helmsman Waxell, a practical and organized man, becomes important. His character contrasts with the petty egotistical Khitrov, who is second in command. There’s drama, missed opportunities, raging storms, discovery, illness, recovery, setbacks, delays, innovation, and a final victory of sorts. It’s an intriguing story, excellently told.
Both Steller’s character and accomplishments are fascinating. On the voyage he cataloged many plants and animals, including species that became extinct shortly afterwards. He could estimate proximity of land by observing what was living in the water. His ability to forage and utilize botanicals to treat illness onboard is mind-boggling. During the voyage, perhaps as a result of assorted adverse conditions and worsening situations, his character mellows as he finds compassion for others.
There’s an epilogue about the return of the sea otter to Alaska—Where the Sea Breaks its Back was written in 1966. How did the sea otter get wiped out in the first place? One unlikable character disobeyed orders and bragged a lot, opening Alaska to exploitation of fur seals, otters, and blue foxes.
A truly great adventure read, plus an excellent history lesson and description of nature in the North. The writing is so convincing that you might feel chilled. Do have your cozy blanket ready if it’s winter.
It’s hard to imagine the austerities and challenges of Bering’s Second Kamchatka Expedition, but Ford brings it to life in just over 200 pages. It’s 1741, on two sailing vessels with no auxiliary power, and all supplies must come by dogsled or ship to Avancha Bay. Harsh weather and lack of radio communication adds to the delays, and in the end supplies are sketchy. Peter the Great dies, and Russia’s new ruler adds impossible tasks to the roster of what Bering is to accomplish. His primary task is to determine whether Russia and Alaska are contiguous or separated by water.
Botanist, naturalist, and physician Steller is a feisty character, convinced that he’s always right and none too diplomatic about it. But then, he is usually right. Onboard, his suggestions are ignored by sailors, sometimes with unfortunate results. His outgoing, prickly character contrasts with Captain Bering, a very cautious, avuncular man, yet they become friends. As Bering’s health deteriorates, helmsman Waxell, a practical and organized man, becomes important. His character contrasts with the petty egotistical Khitrov, who is second in command. There’s drama, missed opportunities, raging storms, discovery, illness, recovery, setbacks, delays, innovation, and a final victory of sorts. It’s an intriguing story, excellently told.
Both Steller’s character and accomplishments are fascinating. On the voyage he cataloged many plants and animals, including species that became extinct shortly afterwards. He could estimate proximity of land by observing what was living in the water. His ability to forage and utilize botanicals to treat illness onboard is mind-boggling. During the voyage, perhaps as a result of assorted adverse conditions and worsening situations, his character mellows as he finds compassion for others.
There’s an epilogue about the return of the sea otter to Alaska—Where the Sea Breaks its Back was written in 1966. How did the sea otter get wiped out in the first place? One unlikable character disobeyed orders and bragged a lot, opening Alaska to exploitation of fur seals, otters, and blue foxes.
A truly great adventure read, plus an excellent history lesson and description of nature in the North. The writing is so convincing that you might feel chilled. Do have your cozy blanket ready if it’s winter.
March 18, 2019
This is the story of naturalist Georg Steller and the early Russian exploration to North America (Alaska coast) in 1841-1842 under Vitus Bering. It is based on diaries/journals kept by Steller and others. It is amazing that this exploration has gone down in history as successful, since I have rarely read about a voyage with so much poor judgement, bad decisions and mishandling of many situations. Bering basically gives up his role as head of the expedition early on, but his name is synonymous with the area – Bering Sea and Bering Island. I found the story very frustrating but still interesting, especially after the shipwreck. I particularly liked the information on Steller’s zoological and biological observations. He discovered and described in detail the Steller’s sea eagle, Steller’s sea Lion, Steller’s Jay, and the Steller’s Sea cow (now extinct). I was fascinated by the information on Steller’s knowledge and use of anti-scurvy plants. Also interesting was the information on sea otters and the near extinction of otters for pelts in the 20+ years after the expedition.
July 23, 2018
Terrific writing. Short but engaging book--read it over a long weekend. Some of Ford's facts and assertions are wrong or misguided, partially due to faulty source material. Consequently, I recommend some additional readings (eg Journal of a Voyage with Bering, 1741-1742, Stanford University Press) to better fill out Georg Steller as a character. Some of Ford's inaccuracies are due to sloppy legwork. For example on Page 156 he describes what is obviously a Bald eagle ("a special sea eagle with white head and tail") yet inexplicably identifies it as a Steller's sea eagle (which does not have a white head). Amazing to me that Bald eagles used to nest in Russia, a fact that Ford cannot capitalize on via this misidentification. Very much worth reading but don't believe everything within as gospel.
September 2, 2025
This is a fantastic short read. The story is entirely based of true events however it’s such a wild ride that at times I found myself forgetting that it wasn’t fiction! Maybe it’s because of my fascination with zoology and adventure but I was captivated from start to finish.
While some may find the topic dry I think the author does a good job of linking everything together to keep the story flowing. Some parts are hard to read due to the heartbreaking nature of the colonialism this story represents, namely the contact with the Aleuts and slaughter of Otters and Sea Cow.
While some may find the topic dry I think the author does a good job of linking everything together to keep the story flowing. Some parts are hard to read due to the heartbreaking nature of the colonialism this story represents, namely the contact with the Aleuts and slaughter of Otters and Sea Cow.
February 28, 2018
Great story telling, read it for the purpose of its nature related theme and got much more than that! The writing style is somewhat different than Im used too. Surprisingly loved the story of the voyage more than I thought I would and has me wanting to read more sea-going books!
November 9, 2020
Thoroughly researched and well written book about the Bering Expedition and overcoming all odds which roughly half the crew made it back. The descriptions, which I’m assuming are from Stellars journal, are written in vivid detail.
July 7, 2025
Never has a book made me love a creature more than this book made me love sea otters, although their hunting to near extinction is so tragic…
Wild to see what colonial exploration looked like in the 1700’s. Sad but interesting read!
Wild to see what colonial exploration looked like in the 1700’s. Sad but interesting read!
October 16, 2024
One of the most interesting historical accounts I have ever read. So inspiring, disheartening, repulsion-creating, fascinating! Answers a lot of my long-time questions/confusions (as an Alaskan) about this period of time in Alaska. Should be much more widely read/known.
December 12, 2013
This is the story of Georg Wilhelm Steller, the naturalist who saw and described the Steller's Jay and Steller's Sea Cow among other animals and plants on his trip to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, 1741 to 1742. The Russians had been planning this trip for 10 years and Steller barely was able to join it. 2 ships left and got separated after 2 weeks sailing from Kamchatka, (trying to find the bogus continent, Gama Land, which mapmaker Delisle claimed was there). The ship St. Peter went on to find the Alexander Archipelago in SW Alaska and the ship Steller was on, the St. Paul, went further north to sight Mt. St Elias, on the rugged coast of Alaska. Both ships wandered back east along the spine of the peninsula that becomes the Aleutian Islands. Steller was tactless, penniless, and extremely bright, so his only friends were his assistants and the captain of the St. Paul. As ship physician he requested antiscurvy herbs, but was ignored. The weather was horrendous, and more than once they nearly ran out of water. Much of the crew died of scurvy. The captain died. The St Paul wrecked in November and the crew had to spend winter on a treeless island. Those that survived tore up the wreck to build a smaller ship to sail home in. And they succeeded. None of Steller's specimens survived the voyage, but his notebooks did. That's how we know what the Steller's Sea Cow tasted like (now extinct), and how huge the colonies of otters, foxes, and fur seals were. After the ships brought back the stories about how plentiful the otters were, there was a huge rush to plunder these riches and they almost wiped out the otters. Steller was appalled at what the crew was doing to the otters even before they got home. The crew spent the winter gamboling with otter fur as money. The whole story was stunning. A must read for anyone who wants to know the whole story of greed in Alaska.
April 23, 2009
This book does not say much about Steller's early life. In fact, I couldn't even remember what Steller's first name was without looking at the title. It does tell a lot about the Bering's second voyage. This part is described in so much detail that I wonder how the author got so much information, especially about the relationships between the officers. The story is incredible. It is hard to believe that people could survive so much suffering, that is, the ones that did survive. Somehow in the book, it never sounded like Steller suffered as much as the other people on the ship. I don't know if this is from the way the book was written or if Steller was in better shape that the other people or if he was better able to care for himself. It did sound like he was very tough, both mentally and physically. I think I shared the frustration ascribed to Steller from not being able to learn much about Alaska because the early part of the book described the difficulty of getting to Kamchatka, setting up the expedition, and the terrible weather at sea. Then when the ship sent boats ashore, Steller was only permitted to go ashore for one day. It was not until the ship was shipwrecked that there was much description of what Alaska was like. The descriptions of the Steller sea cows were far beyond anything I had ever heard of them before.
July 31, 2019
This book filled a major gap in my understanding of 18th century world history. The two arctic expeditions of Vitus Bering (a Dane) on behalf of the Russian monarchy during the reign of Peter the Great each started with a 6,000-mile cross-country trek from St. Petersburg to Kamchatka that makes the Lewis & Clark expedition look like a cake walk. And that was just to get to the beginning of the sea voyages! Bering's second expedition in 1741 provides the context for this book about Georg Steller, a German naturalist whose accomplishments could have rivaled those of Darwin and Humboldt had his life not been cut short at the age of 37 and so many of his papers been lost to history. The Bering expeditions were both completed over 30 years before James Cook first set sail from the British Isles. Had the Russian explorations continued apace, Russia would have owned a lot more than Alaska by the mid 19th century. But the real heart of this book is describing Stellar's keen observations of nature. When the ship wreck occurs during the second voyage, it is Stellar (also a medical doctor) who nurses the surviving crew back to health, partly because of his understanding of how to treat scurvy with medicinal plants. If you like stories of exploration and survival on the high seas with a lot of natural history thrown in, this book is for you.
August 7, 2018
This book tells the story of Georg Stellar, the first to document the wildlife of the Alaskan coast and the Aleutian Islands. You can feel his heartbreak at not getting to spend an extended amount of time in Alaska, nor bring back specimens he had prepared for travel. It contained stories that reminded one of other epic journeys such as the Shackleton expedition. It also told the story of Vitus Bering's tragic last voyage. Stellar documents animals not since seen, such as the Stellar's Sea Cow. The book chronicles the devastation brought to the Aleuts and the sea otters of the Aleutian Island Chain. It contains much tragedy, and more importantly a history of the occurrences along this island chain.
June 1, 2018
This is a sensational story well told by Cory Ford. It includes history, natural history, conservation, seamanship, and even some interesting (and horrid) Russian politics. Also, a great adventure in epic proportions. It was a piece of history I didn't know much about, even though I have traveled extensively and lived in Alaska for a time. I thought when the journey was over the book was pretty much done. Not at all. Part three "The Plunderers" was every bit as captivating as the rest of the book. I went out into the kitchen and took a vitamin C after reading the book.
August 6, 2019
Very readable
Such a pleasure to read this story of the arrival of Europe to Alaska. Alaska is my home and I been to portions of the coastal waters and the Aleutian Islands. I can scarcely conceive of the survival portions of this story but I best liked learning of Stellar's investigation of the natural history of our State.
I also have to mention that Eastern Russia and Alaska. Political boundaries separate is but we share more with the Siberians than with the remainder of the U. S. with regards to climate and Nature.
Such a pleasure to read this story of the arrival of Europe to Alaska. Alaska is my home and I been to portions of the coastal waters and the Aleutian Islands. I can scarcely conceive of the survival portions of this story but I best liked learning of Stellar's investigation of the natural history of our State.
I also have to mention that Eastern Russia and Alaska. Political boundaries separate is but we share more with the Siberians than with the remainder of the U. S. with regards to climate and Nature.
July 19, 2015
This is an incredible story. The story telling is a little hokey here and there, but the story itself is so compelling you almost don't notice. This book led me to fascination with far east Russia and helped me fall more in love with the wild Alaskan wilderness and the overwhelming endlessness of the sea. There is another book on the same subject that I have not read yet, titled "The Last Great Sea."
May 23, 2018
If you're a history nerd like me, this book is a must. I also live in Alaska so I find it especially fascinating to lose myself in words about the landscape that surrounds me. Plus, I read it while crewing on a boat in the Gulf of Alaska. Reading about shipwrecks while I'm on a ship is one of my morbid hobbies.
December 20, 2022
This one was hard for me to get into for some reason. The story is pretty amazing…but it reads only slightly better than a history textbook IMO. In the current season of life, it was hard for me to finish it. But still fascinating information, even if I struggled with the presentation.
March 24, 2014
This book was a class read and it was so boring.
May 11, 2023
What a great book! The writing is wonderful - the descriptions of the landscape, the story of the explorers, and the hardship of sailing into the unknown. I highly recommend.
June 5, 2021
Tagged as "Russian lit" because it's the story of an 18th-century Russian maritime nightmare voyage. The movie poster tagline should be something like: "Just when they thought it couldn't get worse, it did."
In the mid-1700s, Russia was very interested indeed in what was on the other side of the northern Pacific - Bolshaya Zemlya, the "Big Land." If they could find out what was there, how to safely get to it, and what they could plunder once they were there, there might be lots of money to be made. So two wooden sailing ships, the St. Peter and the St. Paul, set off from the Kamchatka peninsula, captained by the dour, doughty Dane Vitus Bering (as in the Bering Sea and Strait), to find out. Among them was Georg Wilhelm Steller, a German naturalist and medic, a haughty, arrogant, impatient man, whose interest lay in identifying and bringing back specimens of plants and animals from a place no European had ever been. The ships lose each other within days of embarking. There are storms (including the demonic-sounding williwaws), dead calms, and squabbles among crew and officers which Bering proves to be too ill and depressed to manage. Steller's journals clearly convey that he loathed everyone and the feeling was pretty mutual. After weeks at sea, the St. Peter manages to hit the Alaskan coast, but because of delays in preparation and the trip over and the imminent autumn changes in the winds, Bering says they have to turn around immediately and return home. An expedition ten years in the making, and Steller is grudgingly permitted ten HOURS to gather his specimens. They don't take in enough drinking water. Food is running low and is terrible. Half the crew comes down with the horrors of scurvy - luckily Steller has gathered plants he knows protect against scurvy, and nurses them along. Half of them die anyway. The ship is wrecked. They spend 8 wintry months on a barren island, harassed by fearless foxes who start feeding on dying men. Then there's an earthquake, for pity's sake. They rebuild a much smaller ship, set off again into more storms. Steller's specimens are all tossed out of the floundering ship - including the sole known specimen of the sea cow that became extinct shortly thereafter. The remnants of the crew hobble into port. Steller survives, wandering rootlessly through eastern Russia, living rough, collecting plants, and drinking himself to death at the age of 37. But western North America is still home to Steller's Jays, glossy, bossy, black-blue birds with lashing crests who will steal all the crackers from your campsite, and yell at you until you give them more. And they are why I wanted to read this book.
But one thing the St. Peter expedition had achieved was to confirm the enormous abundance of fur-bearing animals, especially the sea otters, whose waterproof pelts were maniacally sought for the fur market. In a coda called "The Plunderers," Ford summarizes the ensuing "fur rush" of Russian hunters. They surge into the north Pacific and the Aleutian islands, stuffing their holds with thousands upon thousands of pelts of otters, seals, and foxes. The indigenous people are, of course, not pleased, and there's plenty of human-on-human violence too. Word reached down into California, where sailors could row out into herds of sea otters and just club them with their oars. By 1830, the Alaskan otters were nearly gone, and Baron von Wrangell banned hunting them. 30-odd years later, the US bought Alaska, and the Americans took up the slaughter (about the same time they were busily killing off the buffalo). By 1925, the otters were declared extinct. But in 1931, the soon-to-be head of the Alaskan Game Commission was secretly escorted by an Aleut chief to a quiet spot to show him... a lone sea otter. They were on their way back.
A terrific, wonderfully-written sea drama, with plenty of suffering, tenacity, misery, and danger, and a poignant, almost-kind-of encouraging ending.
In the mid-1700s, Russia was very interested indeed in what was on the other side of the northern Pacific - Bolshaya Zemlya, the "Big Land." If they could find out what was there, how to safely get to it, and what they could plunder once they were there, there might be lots of money to be made. So two wooden sailing ships, the St. Peter and the St. Paul, set off from the Kamchatka peninsula, captained by the dour, doughty Dane Vitus Bering (as in the Bering Sea and Strait), to find out. Among them was Georg Wilhelm Steller, a German naturalist and medic, a haughty, arrogant, impatient man, whose interest lay in identifying and bringing back specimens of plants and animals from a place no European had ever been. The ships lose each other within days of embarking. There are storms (including the demonic-sounding williwaws), dead calms, and squabbles among crew and officers which Bering proves to be too ill and depressed to manage. Steller's journals clearly convey that he loathed everyone and the feeling was pretty mutual. After weeks at sea, the St. Peter manages to hit the Alaskan coast, but because of delays in preparation and the trip over and the imminent autumn changes in the winds, Bering says they have to turn around immediately and return home. An expedition ten years in the making, and Steller is grudgingly permitted ten HOURS to gather his specimens. They don't take in enough drinking water. Food is running low and is terrible. Half the crew comes down with the horrors of scurvy - luckily Steller has gathered plants he knows protect against scurvy, and nurses them along. Half of them die anyway. The ship is wrecked. They spend 8 wintry months on a barren island, harassed by fearless foxes who start feeding on dying men. Then there's an earthquake, for pity's sake. They rebuild a much smaller ship, set off again into more storms. Steller's specimens are all tossed out of the floundering ship - including the sole known specimen of the sea cow that became extinct shortly thereafter. The remnants of the crew hobble into port. Steller survives, wandering rootlessly through eastern Russia, living rough, collecting plants, and drinking himself to death at the age of 37. But western North America is still home to Steller's Jays, glossy, bossy, black-blue birds with lashing crests who will steal all the crackers from your campsite, and yell at you until you give them more. And they are why I wanted to read this book.
But one thing the St. Peter expedition had achieved was to confirm the enormous abundance of fur-bearing animals, especially the sea otters, whose waterproof pelts were maniacally sought for the fur market. In a coda called "The Plunderers," Ford summarizes the ensuing "fur rush" of Russian hunters. They surge into the north Pacific and the Aleutian islands, stuffing their holds with thousands upon thousands of pelts of otters, seals, and foxes. The indigenous people are, of course, not pleased, and there's plenty of human-on-human violence too. Word reached down into California, where sailors could row out into herds of sea otters and just club them with their oars. By 1830, the Alaskan otters were nearly gone, and Baron von Wrangell banned hunting them. 30-odd years later, the US bought Alaska, and the Americans took up the slaughter (about the same time they were busily killing off the buffalo). By 1925, the otters were declared extinct. But in 1931, the soon-to-be head of the Alaskan Game Commission was secretly escorted by an Aleut chief to a quiet spot to show him... a lone sea otter. They were on their way back.
A terrific, wonderfully-written sea drama, with plenty of suffering, tenacity, misery, and danger, and a poignant, almost-kind-of encouraging ending.
August 14, 2023
Not an epic size book of explorer nonfiction, but one so packed with endurance, suffering, and naval incompetence and injustice (never hire a high crew member with bogus maps), you feel you've consumed a whole library. One doomed expedition from the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia to the remote Alaskan islands yields many human casualties--and even worse career sabotage for brilliant scientist and rescuer of men, George Stellar. But the real victim is nature. The sheer waste of animal life and the immeasurable, eventually futile, collection of furs leads to not just one but several species plundered and rendered extinct. Stellar saving men's lives, all succumbing to the book's graphically described scurvy conditions only to recover and slaughter hundreds of sea otters and other beasts is miserable reading. Little relief arrives once the expedition returns home--with none of Stellar's painstakingly collected, organized research samples intact (all of it written down in Latin, no less). Some pleasure is found in sailors suffering digestive conditions from eating old sea lions, but it's a sad voyage. Still, beautifully written, with journal excerpts and plenty of Siberian government intrigue and corruption plaguing the expedition before and after. At least the sea otter recovered its numbers and a few other Stellar species live on.
October 22, 2023
This was a maritime adventure true story of a grueling voyage with George Wilhelm Stellar (1709-42) and Vitus Bering's tragic last voyage. Stellar was one of Europe's foremost naturalists, and the first to document the unique wildlife and plants on the the Alaskan coast. The voyage crossed the uncharted North Pacific to the shores of Alaska, where the Aleut name "agunalaksh" means "the shores where the sea breaks it back." This was what happened during their ill-fated voyage 1741-1742. Stellar was also a physician and helped save some of the crew after their vessel, the St. Peter, was wrecked, by finding medicinal herbs to save the few remaining crew from the ravages of scurvy. Stellar was a brilliant scientist. I lived 16 years in Alaska, and it is interesting to me how many creatures are named after Stellar, and place names with the name Bering. I found the book quite interesting.
May 12, 2021
I'm kind of a geek about reading travel journals and stories of treks and voyages from our past. This is one of the better ones. During this pandemic year of no traveling, I've been around the world more than once! I've been to the South Pole, the Arctic Sea, and now the Alaskan coast-- on Vitus Bering's ship in 1741-42, which carried along naturalist and physician Georg Steller. The author Corey Ford uses the explorers' journals and ship logs to make the story of their voyage really come alive.
You will never think of foxes the same way again. Really. Never.
And the poor sea otters. You need a strong constitution to read about their demise.
I was surprised to learn that the book was first published in 1966. But since you are reading history, it doesn't feel dated. I'm glad the publisher decided to reprint the book in 2010.
You will never think of foxes the same way again. Really. Never.
And the poor sea otters. You need a strong constitution to read about their demise.
I was surprised to learn that the book was first published in 1966. But since you are reading history, it doesn't feel dated. I'm glad the publisher decided to reprint the book in 2010.
December 17, 2022
After years of encountering Steller in various contexts, I finally read this bio. Great classic adventure story of shipwreck, starvation, scurvy, hellish storms. Steller was a contentious, arrogant guy liked by few. He finally earned his shipmates' respect with his medical skills. But his contributions to science earned him a place in history exceeded by that of his captain, Bering, who dies halfway through the exploration voyage. Steller's descriptions of current and soon-to-become-extinct Alaska species and Natives became invaluable.
April 26, 2021
I've read many Alaska books, and this one goes in the top tier for nature/adventure. It's a quick, gripping read. Ford knows his setting and deftly transports readers there. I like the bookending of Bering's voyage and Steller's role in it with the sea otter's fate. Criticisms: In a few spots, Ford's science is dated (he wrote the book in 1969), and I found some of his references to Alaska's native people offensive.
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