Through the lens of a classic Russian travelogue, this historical study examines early globalization and Russia’s participation in the Imperial race.

In the 1850s, American Commodore Matthew Perry embarked on a legendary expedition to open trade relations with Japan. Less well known is the Russian expedition that followed on his heels. Serving aboard the Russian Frigate Pallada was the novelist Ivan Goncharov, who turned his impressions into a bestselling book. In A World of Empires, Edyta Bojanowska uses Goncharov’s travelogue as a window onto mid-19th century global imperialism.

Goncharov recounts experiences in Africa’s Cape Colony, Dutch Java, Spanish Manila, Japan, and the British ports of Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, offering keen insight on imperial expansion, cooperation, and competition. Often overlooked in the history of European imperialism, Russia emerges here as an increasingly assertive empire, eager to position itself on the world stage and fully conversant with the ideologies of civilizing mission and race.

Goncharov’s gripping narrative offers a unique eyewitness account of empire in action. Bojanowska’s illuminating analysis reveals both a zeal to emulate European powers and a determination to define Russia against them.

A Financial Times Best History Book of the Year

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