The making of John Ledyard : empire and ambition in the life of an early American traveler / Edward G. Gray.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gray, Edward G., 1964-2023.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ledyard, John, 1751-1789.

Ledyard, John.

Ledyard, John, 1751-1789--Travel.

Ledyard, John, 1751-1789--Friends and associates.

Explorers--United States--Biography.

Explorers.

Travelers--United States--Biography.

Travelers.

Voyages and travels--History--18th century.

Voyages and travels.

United States--Description and travel.

United States.

Oceania--Description and travel.

Oceania.

Russia--Description and travel.

Russia.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 online resource (xiii, 224 p.) ) ill., maps.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

During the course of his short but extraordinary life, John Ledyard (1751-1789) came in contact with some of the most remarkable figures of his era: the British explorer Captain James Cook, American financier Robert Morris, Revolutionary naval commander John Paul Jones, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and others. Ledyard lived and traveled in remarkable places as well, journeying from the New England backcountry to Tahiti, Hawaii, the American Northwest coast, Alaska, and the Russian Far East. In this engaging biography, the historian Edward Gray offers not only a full account of Ledyard's eventful life but also an illuminating view of the late eighteenth-century world in which he lived. Ledyard was both a product of empire and an agent in its creation, Gray shows, and through this adventurer's life it is possible to discern the many ways empire shaped the lives of nations, peoples, and individuals in the era of the American Revolution, the world's first modern revolt against empire.

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A NOTE ON QUOTATIONS

Introduction

CHAPTER I. A Colonial Childhood

CHAPTER II. On Stage at Dartmouth College

CHAPTER III. Serving Captain Cook with Honor

CHAPTER IV. Seeking Distinction with the Pen Aboard the Resolution

CHAPTER V. Following the Revolution Home

CHAPTER VI. From Author to Fur Trader

CHAPTER VII. Becoming a Traveler in Thomas Jefferson's Paris

CHAPTER VIII. Across the Russian Empire

CHAPTER IX. Despotism and Human Nature in Catherine II's Russia

CHAPTER X. To Africa

Epilogue: MEMORIES OF THE TRAVELER

NOTES

INDEX

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-215) and index.

ISBN:

1-281-73525-6

9786611735258

0-300-13781-8

OCLC:

1023994039