Vitus Bering's First Kamchatka Expedition : Review of Midshipman Chaplin's Journal ed. by Tatiana Federova et al. (Aarhus: University Press 2010)

• The review describes the contents of a journal written in the early 1830s here published in a superbly produced illustrated English language edition that places Vitus Bering's first Kamchatka Expedition in historical and political context. The review highlights the multifaceted significance of this publication today and links to a discussion of the consequences currently of climate change in the Arctic and present day geopolitics. By contrasting modes of trans-Siberian and Arctic travel, the quest for natural resources and politics in the early 18th century and today, it is argued, one can gain a better understanding of the past and the present.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Annan humaniora -- Övrig annan humaniora (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Other Humanities -- Other Humanities not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Vitus Bering

Kamchatka

Peter the Great

St Petersburg

mapping

Russia

history

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

rec (subject category)