Ocean of Destiny: A Concise History of the North Pacific, 1500-1978

Lower, J. Arthur

ISBN 10: 0774801018 / ISBN 13: 9780774801010

Published by University of British Columbia Press, Canada & USA, 1978

About this Item

The dust jacket is worn with several large tears and missing pieces. 242 pages with a few b&w photographic pages. Books listed here are not stored at the shop. Please contact us if you want to pick up a book from Newtown. Size: Size F: 9"-10" Tall (228-254mm).

Seller Inventory # 124868

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Ocean of Destiny: A Concise History of the North Pacific, 1500-1978
• Publisher: University of British Columbia Press, Canada & USA
• Publication Date: 1978
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0774801018
• ISBN 13: 9780774801010
• Binding: Hard Cover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Pacific & New Zealand - History, Politics & Travel

About this title

Synopsis

The modern history of the North Pacific began five hundred years ago when Europeans sailed into the ocean for the first time. This discovery shaped the destinies of seven countries that now rim its Asiatic and North American shores: Russia, China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, the United States, and Canada.

Their history is an exciting epic of discovery -- the great expeditions of Marco Polo, Drake, and Magellan; the quest for the spices of Cathay; the early days of the fur trade, the gold rush, and the long treks westward across North America to first establish Canadian and American possessions on the Pacific shore.

Rivalry and confrontation were part of this epic. From the sixteenth to the nineteenth century European powers contested for the riches of the East and the West, the wealth of the ocean, and territory to sate colonial ambitions. Since that time full-blooded conflicts developed between Asian states and between Asia and the Western powers.

As a major trading power in the Pacific with no tradition of territorial expansion, and as a respected peacekeeper, Canada is in a unique position to view the history of the Pacific impartially. This survey is doubly valuable, not only as the first history of the North Pacific dealing with the concurrent events in the East and West, but also as a history reflecting Canada’s international outlook.

About the Author

J. Arthur Lower is also the author of Canada: An Outline History (1966) and Canada on the Pacific Rim (1975).