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Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America | 
| Author: Eric Jay Dolin
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $17.99
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Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 2135
Format: Deckle Edge
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 442
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.5
ISBN: 0393067106
Dewey Decimal Number: 381.456850973
EAN: 9780393067101
ASIN: 0393067106
Publication Date: July 12, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
From the best-selling author of Leviathan comes this sweeping narrative of one of America’s most historically rich industries. As Henry Hudson sailed up the broad river that would one day bear his name, he grew concerned that his Dutch patrons would be disappointed in his failure to find the fabled route to the Orient. What became immediately apparent, however, from the Indians clad in deer skins and “good furs” was that Hudson had discovered something just as tantalizing.
The news of Hudson’s 1609 voyage to America ignited a fierce competition to lay claim to this uncharted continent, teeming with untapped natural resources. The result was the creation of an American fur trade, which fostered economic rivalries and fueled wars among the European powers, and later between the United States and Great Britain, as North America became a battleground for colonization and imperial aspirations.
In Fur, Fortune, and Empire, best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin chronicles the rise and fall of the fur trade of old, when the rallying cry was “get the furs while they last.” Beavers, sea otters, and buffalos were slaughtered, used for their precious pelts that were tailored into extravagant hats, coats, and sleigh blankets. To read Fur, Fortune, and Empire then is to understand how North America was explored, exploited, and settled, while its native Indians were alternately enriched and exploited by the trade. As Dolin demonstrates, fur, both an economic elixir and an agent of destruction, became inextricably linked to many key events in American history, including the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812, as well as to the relentless pull of Manifest Destiny and the opening of the West.
This work provides an international cast beyond the scope of any Hollywood epic, including Thomas Morton, the rabble-rouser who infuriated the Pilgrims by trading guns with the Indians; British explorer Captain James Cook, whose discovery in the Pacific Northwest helped launch America’s China trade; Thomas Jefferson who dreamed of expanding the fur trade beyond the Mississippi; America’s first multimillionaire John Jacob Astor, who built a fortune on a foundation of fur; and intrepid mountain men such as Kit Carson and Jedediah Smith, who sliced their way through an awe inspiring and unforgiving landscape, leaving behind a mythic legacy still resonates today.
Concluding with the virtual extinction of the buffalo in the late 1800s, Fur, Fortune, and Empire is an epic history that brings to vivid life three hundred years of the American experience, conclusively demonstrating that the fur trade played a seminal role in creating the nation we are today. 16 pages of color and 16 pages of black-and-white illustrations
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
 5-stars for effort, 3 for writing August 21, 2010
D. J. Nardi (Washington, DC)
Eric Jay Dolin, author of Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, now explores the history of the American fur trade in Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America. I'll be honest, I wasn't crazy about Leviathan - it had an amazing amount of detail, but I felt it was more a collection of anecdotes than a historical analysis. Fur, Fortune, and Empire suffers from similar defects, but also has a more focused narrative. I felt like the book was a typical freshman college report - an A for the amount of effort and research, but a B for the depth of analysis and writing.
First, the book: Fur, Fortune, and Empire follows some of the pivotal events of the American fur trade. While the book claims to cover the period from 1550-1900, in reality it focuses on the early 1600s and early 1800s. Dolin argues that the fur trade was integral to American history, leading to the founding of cities like Springfield, MA (my dad's hometown) and encouraging British settlers to expand into Dutch and French territory. I think Dolin is right about this and makes a good case for the importance of the fur trade in U.S. history. For that alone, Fur, Fortune, and Empire is worth reading.
Now the bad. At times when reading Fur, Fortune, and Empire, I felt almost like I was reading a World Bank report. It is brimming with the traditional elements of history: "names, dates, and places," dryly recited. However, there's no exciting characters, little analysis, and at times just becomes just a forgettable collection of anecdotes. I've read many, many academic history books, many much longer than this book's 300 photos, but the best books have one central theme or argument and stick with it. By contrast, Fur, Fortune, and Empire could really have benefitted from an timeline and/or a conclusion that outline the key points of the fur trade (such as when and why certain developments took place). Much of this is in the book, but it's hidden in between all of the anecdotes. Some other way of highlighting important developments would have given Dolin's work more of an impact - a memorable takeaway because, let's face it, I don't have a photographic memory and probably won't remember most of the anecdotes in the book a year from now.
Overall, Fur, Fortune, and Empire will probably be a difficult read, but is packed with anecdotes. If you frequently read histories of early America, this would be a worthwhile addition to your list (or, if you liked Leviathan, you'll probably love this book). But I wouldn't recommend the book to general audiences - the narrative is simply too dry, too much a collection of trivia to excite most readers. I suspect the book's greatest appeal will be for professional historians who focus on early America or natural resource consumption. For general audiences, I'd give the book 3.75 stars.
 Fascinating and Fury History of the Conquest of America by Europeans August 8, 2010
Bugs (Los Angeles, Ca.)
The history of conquest to colonize America by Europeans is replete with many tales and motivations and Eric Jay Dolin's very well researched account puts one special resource at the top of the list: Furs and most specifically, beaver fur.
Historians have noted many motivations to colonize America from the basic curious desire to see what lay across the Atlantic ocean, to seek new opportunities to expand empires, resource accumulation, to escape socio, political, and religious persecution, etc. and this is all true to one degree or another, but as Dolin so articulately illustrates, the fur trade was the fuel that most predominately ran the engine of exploration and colonization. The lust for fur and it's monetary rewards was the key component in the struggles between the various European countries for dominance in the fur trade and more importantly, control of territory. The English finally won the turf and trade battles, but with their oppressive rules, regulations and taxes, they drove the colonists to rebellion and the desire for an independent nation. Still, all the original colonists (English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Swedes, Germans, etc.) so lusted for the furs of America that they continued to jockey for control of the fur trade in Europe and Asia. How the rabid lust for furs affected the American Indians and the land they once controlled, is clearly laid out in a tragic subjugation of a once proud people.
Dolin's narrative is fascinating and at points, reads like an adventure novel (understandable because much of the American frontier was first visited by adventurers seeking fame and fortune and their stories are told here). Dolin makes a good argument that even the Lewis and Clark expedition was very much motivated not only by the desire for the new government to seek a passage to the west coast, but also to beat out the French, English, and Spanish for control of more and more fur hunting ground. Staking a claim to the entire American continent would do just that.
Dolin takes the evolution of the fur trade right up to the present and accounts for the evolution of sustainable fur hunting regulations brought about by the close extinction of virtually all fur-bearing animals in north America- a good ending to an engrossing account of American History in much of it`s rape and pillage early years.
Thoroughly enjoyable window into America's past, that leaves you wanting more. August 3, 2010
Thomas A. Warren
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Fur, Fortune, and Empire is rich in fascinating detail, broad in scope, and very well written. I read the book quickly, because I wanted to find out what happened next, get to know another amazing person, and learn American history through a new perspective. I think what makes Dolin's history writing engaging is the compelling diverse narrative about places, people, events, markets, geography, and ecology. I look forward to reading it again in the future!
Excellent Addition to Your U.S. History Collection July 26, 2010
C. Pogue
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Just finished Fur, Fortune, and Empire and enjoyed it very much. One of the luxuries of being a high school teacher and coach is the opportunity to read several history books over the summer. This work was certainly the highlight of my reading season.
I remember fondly running trap lines in high school (mostly for muskrat) to earn a little extra spending money. However, even with that experience, I had not fully connected the importance of the fur trade to the expansion of our United States. This book will certainly be used in my AP US History class this fall as a valuable resource.
The book has a lot of enjoyable stories about some real characters of American history.
Keith Pogue
Soft Gold July 19, 2010
E. B. Belason
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
SOFT GOLD. Today furs are often regarded as politically incorrect, and the only mention of beavers is the occasional local newspaper article re the nuisance of a dam to someone's property. However for over 250 years in North America, from the late 1500s to circa 1840, the beaver was a valuable commodity (main market: top hats for European gentlemen), often referred to as "soft gold". Dolin's aptly-titled book persuasively traces the driving force of acquisition of beaver and other furs on U.S. history, from the huge influence on the first colonies of the French (indeed, the fur trade was the primary motivation); British (beaver fur was the Pilgrims' first cash crop); and Dutch. But the influence didn't cease with the colonies. The fur trade also was a major factor in the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812 (and vice-versa--i.e. laws etc. were passed because of the fur trade), and in general drove westward transcontinental expansion.
But there were many other influences. One was that the fur trade was probably the largest factor in defining the final U.S.-Canadian border. Two examples: The border through the middle of 4 of the Great Lakes preserved the (canoe) transport route of furs from the interior of Canada to Montreal; the wagon trains led to the Oregon Territory by the (ex) mountain men swung the balance of power in this co-occupied(U.S. and British)region to the U.S., bringing to the U.S. the land west of the continental divide, north of the Columbia river, and below the 49th parallel (the current state of Washington, the Idaho panhandle, and western Montana).
Dolin has scoured hundreds of sources, summarizing key information in a compelling succinct narrative for the general reader. For the history buff, there are about 980 footnotes, fascinatingly amplifying interesting points and/or putting them into context with other contemporary events. Bottom line: read this book to know more about an under-appreciated part of American history. Recalling the saying: the business of America is business, the fur trade was a primary early American business (making John Jacob Astor America's first milionaire).
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
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