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Reviews
Bering: The Russian Discovery of America
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By Orcutt Frost
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Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn., 2004. Illustrations, maps, bibliography. 384 pages. $30.00 cloth.
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Reviewed by Lydia T. Black
Kodiak, Alaska
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| Vitus Bering (1680–1741), a Danish seaman,entered Russian Imperial Navy at the age of twenty-three and faithfully served Peter the Great and his successors for almost forty years. In 1782, he was the first European to sail through the strait that separates Asia and America and, in 1741, was dispatched to explore the shores of North America. Though Russian advance in the North Pacific has been discussed by many scholars, beginning with the groundbreaking work of Frank A. Golder in the early part of the twentieth century, it is true — as Professor Frost states in the introduction — that to this day we lack a biography of this remarkable mariner. |
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Frost claims in Bering: The Russian Discovery of America that his book remedies the situation. Unfortunately, it does not live up to its promise. In part, this is due to the author's uncritical reliance on the account by Georg Wilhelm Steller, an adjunct of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences, who unofficially joined the expedition through a private arrangement between him and Bering. The second shortcoming is the author's inability to consult Russian (or Danish) sources in the original. Frost's account of the excavation of Bering's camp and his grave on Bering Island is inaccurate probably because it is based on preliminary reports that have been translated into English. |
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"Letters Home: Anna Bering in Command" is new for readers of English (pp. 93–106). It is an interpretation of letters originally written in German by Bering's wife and published in Danish translation (Lind and Moller, 1997, cited by the author on p. 290 and listed in bibliography on p. 304). Frost "reads between the lines" and reaches incorrect conclusions about the social position of the Berings in Russia. He does not take into account that forms of address and signing-off current in the eighteenth century conformed to certain standards. The claim that Bering's descendents (some of whom still reside in Russia) suffered social degradation after his death is also in error. |
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As much as I regret being negative, I must remark on the failure of scholarly apparatus. There appears to be a misunderstanding in this book about what constitutes a primary source, and the listing under that heading is misleading (pp. 302–306). The section "Secondary Sources" also leaves much to be desired (pp. 306–315). I am particularly concerned that titles of works published in Russian are given in translation only. Moreover, the bibliography is overloaded with titles that have no relation to the topic of the book. Specialists will disregard this book, and a novice in the field will be misled. The general reader will gain little historical knowledge of Russian exploration of the Arctic and North Pacific oceans. With all possible good-will, I cannot recommend this book. Vitus Bering still awaits a biographer. |
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