Examines the sociohistorical origins of the former Russian colonies in Alaska, or ""Russian America"", between 1741 and 1799. Beginning with the Second Kamchatka Expedition of Vitus Ivanovich Bering and Aleksei Ilyich Chirikov's discovery of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, this book offers a definitive, revisionist examination of Tsarist Russia's foray into the imperial contest in North America.