Morning of Fire: America's Epic First Journey into the Pacific - Softcover

Ridley, Scott

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061700193 ISBN 13: 9780061700194

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2011

Synopsis

Morning of Fire by Scott Ridley is the thrilling story of 18th century American explorer and expedition commander John Kendrick as he sought to establish the first American outposts in the Pacific. Set against the backdrop of one of the most exciting and uncertain times in world history, Kendrick's odyssey aboard his ship Columbia Rediviva and brigantine Lady Washington carries him from the shores of New England across the unexplored waters of the Pacific Northwest to the war-ravaged islands of Hawaii, the treacherous port of Macao/Canton and the closed nation of Japan. All the while, he and his crew evade capture and the intrigues of the British and the Spanish. Morning of Fire fills an early gap in our understanding of Western nations vying for control of the Pacific. It is riveting American and naval history that brings the lives of native people and era of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson virbantly alive—with a tale of danger, adventure, tragedy and discovery that fans of Nathaniel Philbrick will not want to miss.

About this title

About the Author

Descended from a long line of New England sailors and shipbuilders, Scott Ridley has written for the New Republic, The Nation, Newsday, the Denver Post, and other publications. He lives with his family in East Harwich, Massachusetts.

From the Back Cover

The Forgotten True Story of America’s Daring First Exploration of the Pacific

Just four years after the Revolutionary War and more than a decade before Lewis and Clark’s expedition, a remarkable—but now forgotten—plan was hatched along the docks of Boston Harbor. Two ships carrying the flag of the newly formed United States would be dispatched in 1787 on a landmark adventure around South America’s Cape Horn and into the largely uncharted waters of the Pacific Ocean, far past the western edge of the continent. The man chosen to lead the expedition was Captain John Kendrick, a master navigator who had made his name as a charismatic privateer during the Revolution. On the harrowing seven-year voyage that followed, Kendrick would establish the first American outpost in the remote Pacific Northwest, sail into a deadly cauldron of intertribal war in the Hawaiian Islands, wage a single-ship campaign to hold off advances of the British and Spanish empires, and narrowly escape capture by samurai in Japan before meeting his own violent and tragic end thousands of miles from home. Brilliantly brought to life by historian Scott Ridley, Morning of Fire is a startling rediscovery of a thrilling lost chapter of American history.

Edition details

• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0061700193
• ISBN 13: 9780061700194
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 464