A World of Empires : The Russian Voyage of the Frigate Pallada

A Financial Times Best History Book of the Year Many people are familiar with American Commodore Matthew Perry's expedition to open trade relations with Japan in the early 1850s. Less well known is that on the heels of the Perry squadron followed a Russian expedition secretly on the same mission. Serving as secretary to the naval commander was novelist Ivan Goncharov, who turned his impressions into a book, The Frigate Pallada , which became a bestseller in imperial Russia. In A World of Empires, Edyta Bojanowska uses Goncharov's fascinating travelogue as a window onto global imperial history in the mid-nineteenth century. Reflecting on encounters in southern Africa's Cape Colony, Dutch Java, Spanish Manila, Japan, and the British ports of Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, Goncharov offers keen observations on imperial expansion, cooperation, and competition. Britain's global ascendancy leaves him in equal measures awed and resentful. In Southeast Asia, he recognizes an increasingly interlocking world in the vibrant trading hubs whose networks encircle the globe. Traveling overland back home, Goncharov presents Russia's colonizing rule in Siberia as a positive imperial model, contrasted with Western ones. Slow to be integrated into the standard narrative on European imperialism, Russia emerges here as an increasingly assertive empire, eager to position itself on the world stage among its American and European rivals and fully conversant with the ideologies of civilizing mission and race. Goncharov's gripping narrative offers a unique eyewitness account of empire in action, in which Bojanowska finds both a zeal to emulate European powers and a determination to define Russia against them. Through the lens of a classic Russian travelogue, this historical study examines early globalization and Russia’s participation in the Imperial race. In the 1850s, American Commodore Matthew Perry embarked on a legendary expedition to open trade relations with Japan. Less well known is the Russian expedition that followed on his heels. Serving aboard the Russian Frigate Pallada was the novelist Ivan Goncharov, who turned his impressions into a bestselling book. In A World of Empires, Edyta Bojanowska uses Goncharov’s travelogue as a window onto mid-19th century global imperialism. Goncharov recounts experiences in Africa’s Cape Colony, Dutch Java, Spanish Manila, Japan, and the British ports of Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, offering keen insight on imperial expansion, cooperation, and competition. Often overlooked in the history of European imperialism, Russia emerges here as an increasingly assertive empire, eager to position itself on the world stage and fully conversant with the ideologies of civilizing mission and race. Goncharov’s gripping narrative offers a unique eyewitness account of empire in action. Bojanowska’s illuminating analysis reveals both a zeal to emulate European powers and a determination to define Russia against them. A Financial Times Best History Book of the Year Novelist Ivan Goncharov was secretary to the naval commander of an 1852 secret mission to open trade relations with Japan. Bojanowska uses Goncharov's gripping travelogue [past Cape Colony (South Africa), Dutch Java, Spanish Manila, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong , Shanghai, Siberia]---a bestseller (1858) in nineteenth-century Russia--as a unique eyewitness account of empire in action. Slow to be integrated into the standard narrative on European imperialism, Russia emerges here as an assertive empire eager to emulate European powers and determined to define Russia against them.-- From jacket Edyta Bojanowska uses Ivan Goncharov's gripping travelogue--a bestseller in nineteenth-century Russia--as a unique eyewitness account of empire in action. Slow to be integrated into the standard narrative on European imperialism, Russia emerges here as an assertive empire eager to emulate European powers and determined to define Russia against them.-- Provided by publisher Contents Note on Primary Sources, Transliteration, Ethnonyms, and Place Names Introduction From London to Cape Town, or How to Run a Successful Empire Pineapples in Petersburg, Cabbage Soup on the Equator Prying Open Japan, Prospecting Korea Eastward Ho! Russians Confront Human Diversity The Bestseller and Its Afterlife Appendix Notes Acknowledgments Index Edyta Bojanowska uses Ivan Goncharov's gripping travelogue ... a bestseller in nineteenth-century Russia ... as a unique eyewitness account of empire in action. Slow to be integrated into the standard narrative on European imperialism, Russia emerges here as an assertive empire eager to emulate European powers and determined to define Russia against them