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furey's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderfully told story of exploration, survival, the building of America, and the making of John Jacob Astor. I've been to Astoria, it is a beautiful area, and in the telling of this story, I could imagine the adventurers on the travels to the Pacific Northwest area and the settling of Astoria.
duparker's review against another edition
4.0
A very interesting book. The story of westward exploration and struggle is interesting and intricate. To think of all that we take for granted traveling today vs what explorers had to deal with and the unexpected shows the determination and grit people had. The leaders might have made bad choices, and been rash when dealing with natives, but they had gumption for heading west and for tackling the unknown.
zeezeebee's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
ajlark25's review against another edition
5.0
What a ride. A non-fiction book that reads like a novel, telling the tale of 2 parties charged with reaching the mouth of the Columbia - 1 by land and 1 by sea. Stark is a wonderful story teller and the story itself is just on the right side of unbelievable!
hoodster's review against another edition
4.0
Amazing tale. My only quibble is he was rarely gave modern geographical landmarks so that you could follow along with the various expeditions. The other thing is I cared far less for the story of the rich industrialist than of the people who did his bidding. A book length treatment of Marie Dorian would be fascinating!
nina_rod's review against another edition
4.0
I decided to read this book after visiting Astoria and finding about about its fascinating sea and industrial history. On our visit, it was sunny and glorious. I thought I should definitely move there! The locals told me the weather was not usually like that. I thought I would read about the history of the town.
However this story was more about its very early beginnings of Astoria not necessarily about the town. It was about John Astor’s grand idea to set up this west coast empire that never came to his vision... though others have taken it. Had he succeed, we may have called the whole place Astoria and not just the town. The US might have had the entire west coast... and not had to share it with Canada.
This story was about the arduous sea voyage and fatal land voyage to set up the empire. Its bad decisions, communication misses, Indian attacks, attacks on Indians, revenge and war with England that hampered the grand vision. So this story was not what I expected, but was fascinating. I found myself mourning the voyagers bad luck and my jaw dropping at the amazing things that happened. I googled to find out more. Just googling about the fate of the ship the Tonquin is worth the google.
However this story was more about its very early beginnings of Astoria not necessarily about the town. It was about John Astor’s grand idea to set up this west coast empire that never came to his vision... though others have taken it. Had he succeed, we may have called the whole place Astoria and not just the town. The US might have had the entire west coast... and not had to share it with Canada.
This story was about the arduous sea voyage and fatal land voyage to set up the empire. Its bad decisions, communication misses, Indian attacks, attacks on Indians, revenge and war with England that hampered the grand vision. So this story was not what I expected, but was fascinating. I found myself mourning the voyagers bad luck and my jaw dropping at the amazing things that happened. I googled to find out more. Just googling about the fate of the ship the Tonquin is worth the google.
wescovington's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting tale, but there are a lot of people to keep track of. Some of the stories are quite harrowing.
nicoleankenmann's review against another edition
5.0
Audiobook: 10h.54m.
As a Canadian public school kid, I have spent a great many hours of my life in less-than-enthusiastic history classes. Though I’ve studied the war of 1812 nearly every year of my formal education, the details still feel blurry and irrelevant to me.
This book has breathed life into the continental the stories I’ve known and dismissed since childhood. Flat names were given flesh; vague motives became important. When my future children bemoan their elementary school Canadian History courses, I will absolutely reach for this book.
Astoria does not seem designed to be read in one sitting. Like a television show that anticipates commercial breaks, this book begins many chapters with a recap of the previous scene, or a summing up of the story so far. This structure would make for an excellent part-by-part bedtime read, especially for younger ears, but is generally a helpful ploy for a historical work.
I would highly recommend this book to those who are enchanted by adventure in the outdoors, and to those who are disenchanted with 18th Century Canadian (or American) history.
As a Canadian public school kid, I have spent a great many hours of my life in less-than-enthusiastic history classes. Though I’ve studied the war of 1812 nearly every year of my formal education, the details still feel blurry and irrelevant to me.
This book has breathed life into the continental the stories I’ve known and dismissed since childhood. Flat names were given flesh; vague motives became important. When my future children bemoan their elementary school Canadian History courses, I will absolutely reach for this book.
Astoria does not seem designed to be read in one sitting. Like a television show that anticipates commercial breaks, this book begins many chapters with a recap of the previous scene, or a summing up of the story so far. This structure would make for an excellent part-by-part bedtime read, especially for younger ears, but is generally a helpful ploy for a historical work.
I would highly recommend this book to those who are enchanted by adventure in the outdoors, and to those who are disenchanted with 18th Century Canadian (or American) history.