Known for his pioneering work on Russia's early exploits in Australia and the Pacific, historian Glynn Barratt again breaks new ground in presenting the first comprehensive study of Russian naval, social, mercantile, and scientific enterprise in New South Wales between 1807 and 1835.

Glynn Barratt's profile page

Glynn Barratt is a professor of Russian at Carleton University and the author of many books on Russia's naval and diplomatic history.

The interest and extent of the materials that Barratt brings together and renders accessible to a non-Russian readership is impressive. The Russians, it is clear, were significant players on the Pacific stage. Until now, they have for the most part been overlooked by Western scholars studying the European penetration of the region. Never again shall we be able to find an excuse for doing so. Barratt has made sure of that!

The Slavonic Review

A detailed survey, meticulously and indeed almost overwhelmingly documented; the appendix on archival sources and the thirty-page bibliography would undoubtedly be a valuable guide to those scholars who are interested in what is after all a relatively minor phase of Russian and Pacific history ... A storehouse of information, which one may hope will contribute to redressing a marked imbalance in Australia's view of the Pacific.

International Journal of Maritime History

Based on extensive research in the journals and collections left by the Russian seamen, this excellent study brings out the detailed and valuable account of not only the flora and fauna of Australia, but also of the British penal system and other aspects of life in Australia.

Choice