Island of the Blue Foxes Audiobook By Stephen R. Bown cover art

Island of the Blue Foxes

Disaster and Triumph on the World's Greatest Scientific Expedition

Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

Island of the Blue Foxes

By: Stephen R. Bown
Narrated by: Steven Crossley
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.09

Buy for $20.09

The story of the world's largest, longest, and best-financed scientific expedition of all time, triumphantly successful, gruesomely tragic, and never before fully told. The immense 18th-century scientific journey, variously known as the Second Kamchatka Expedition or the Great Northern Expedition, from St. Petersburg across Siberia to the coast of North America, involved over 3,000 people and cost Peter the Great over one-sixth of his empire's annual revenue.

Until now recorded only in academic works, this 10-year venture, led by the legendary Danish captain Vitus Bering and including scientists, artists, mariners, soldiers, and laborers, discovered Alaska, opened the Pacific fur trade, and led to fame, shipwreck, and "one of the most tragic and ghastly trials of suffering in the annals of maritime and arctic history."

©2017 Stephen R. Bown (P)2018 Tantor
Maritime History & Piracy Arctic & Antarctica Expeditions & Discoveries World Russia Science Nature & Ecology Ecosystems & Habitats Outdoors & Nature
Epic Adventure • Historical Depth • Excellent Narration • Fascinating Exploration • Survival Tale • Cinematic Arc

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
really well told- nice combo of detail and story. very interesting subject and solid British accent on the narration

great historical narrative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is an illuminating and rarely told tale from the European Age of Exploration that should rank more prominently in the chronicles.

This is an epic tale of a mission gone wrong, extreme survival and nonetheless a world altering trek.

The excellent narrative and narration have a cinematic arc with unforeseen twists and reversals that sustaining interest throughout.

Little-known saga from the age of Exploration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

In the mid 18th century, Russia sent an expedition east under the command of Vitus Bering to explore the ocean between Russia and the North American continent.

This book chronicles that epic adventure and the trials that Bering and his men faced.



The little known tale of endurance and fortitude.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is a great adventure story concerning an explorer most people know little about. It is also a story of blind inhuman bureaucracy. Details of early Siberian life are also thrown in. The book allowed me to view Russia from a new angle.

Two stories in one

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I learned quite a bit about Russian politics of the time. very interesting. The story of the men at sea itself was engrossing.

Russian politics and science

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews