Russians in Alaska: 1732-1867

If you want to learn about the Russian presence in North America, look no further. It's essentially a text book without being a complete bore. I have one main criticism: although it has hundreds of illustrations, It lacks a decent map of Russian settlements & expeditions. It's loaded with unfamiliar place names and it was difficult to get the Big Picture without constantly referring to google maps for an overview. Having said that, it was quite a learning experience. I had no idea the Russian presence was so small in number (a mere few hundred imperial citizens) and that the Russian Government let business interests due all the ground work.