Scott Ridley
Auteur van Morning of Fire
Over de Auteur
Descended from a long line of New England sailors and shipbuilders, Scott Ridley has written for the New Republic, The Nation, Newsday, the Denver Post, and other publications. He lives with his family in East Harwich, Massachusetts.
Ontwarringsbericht:
(eng) Scott Ridley is the author of Morning of Fire and is distinctly different to Ridley Scott the British director. Please do not combine the two. Thanks.
Werken van Scott Ridley
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Algemene kennis
- Geslacht
- male
- Nationaliteit
- USA
- Korte biografie
- from Amazon - Scott Ridley is a policy-analyst and author who has written for: The New Republic, The Nation, Newsday, Denver Post and a host of other publications. He is recognized as an authority on the history of the electric utility industry, having co-authored (with Richard Rudolph) the book Power Struggle: The Hundred Year War Over Electricity. He has also authored numerous peer reviewed technical reports, articles and booklets. He has four sons and lives with his family in East Harwich, Massachusetts. This biography was provided by the author or their representative. Scott Ridley is a policy-analyst and author who has written for: The New Republic, The Nation, Newsday, Denver Post and a host of other publications. He is recognized as an authority on the history of the electric utility industry, having co-authored the book Power Struggle: The Hundred Year War Over Electricity. He has also authored numerous peer reviewed technical reports, articles and booklets. He has four sons and lives with his family in East Harwich, Massachusetts.
- Ontwarringsbericht
- Scott Ridley is the author of Morning of Fire and is distinctly different to Ridley Scott the British director. Please do not combine the two. Thanks.
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Statistieken
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- 4
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- 67
- Populariteit
- #256,179
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- 4.0
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- 2
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- 3
In the period after the American Revolution, Spain claimed most of the western coast of North America as well as that of South America, but it was James Cook who had explored the region, so the British felt that they had a claim as wel, and the Americans... well, they were itchy. Having thrown off the British, they had learned that those British taxes had actually paid for things they needed, and so they had to do them themselves (and pay for them themselves), and they were also learning that economic development required resources and trade. Things they weren't very good at. Times were hard. So they set about learning.
One thing a Boston conglomerate tried was exploring those Pacific Northwest regions. They were pretty sure there were furs there, for instance. And no one (other than Indians who weren't regarded as counting) was in actual possession. So John Kendrick and Robert Gray took the Columbia (for which the Columbia River was named) and the smaller Lady Washington and set out... into a sea of politics. The Spanish and British were both, on the whole, friendlier to the Americans than to each other, so both tried to get some use out of Kendrick. And Kendrick had his own problems, as his subordinate Gray was not fond of being under orders.
The result was a very complicated many-year voyage by Kendrick. He didn't discover much, but Gray found the Columbia River, which the Spanish and Cook and George Vancouver's British expedition had all missed. In the long run, that may have been the biggest result of the whole trip, since it would influence the history of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. But that's another book.
Gray's insubordination caused Kendrick a lot of problems -- Gray went home before Kendrick, and badmouthed his boss; Kendrick found his position at home precarious. He would never return to Boston. He never even tried; he was killed in the Hawaiian Islands in odd circumstances.
This book is probably the most detailed look at the complexities of Kendrick's expedition, and it's a topic well worth the coverage. And the book seems to me to be fairly complete. I did have a few problems with it. For starters, author Scott seems to assume we'll remember every name we encounter along the way, whether we're told it's important or not. There are a lot of names in here (Spaniards, British, Americans, a few Chinese, and a whole lot of people from different native tribes, both in the Pacific Northwest and in Hawaii). If he can't give us more help, a Dramatic Personae would have helped.
Dates would have helped, too. I was trying to use this book for a research project, and I can't remember how many times I found myself saying, "Yes, but what year is it?" It's a real problem if you're reading the book in small pieces, or are trying to fit it into world events.
If I have one big problem, though, it's that I suspect Scott is too kind to Kendrick. Kendrick abandoned his wife, failed in his mission, got into fights with a lot of people, got himself killed in a place he had no real reason to be. Every one of these events, individually, can be explained away. But it's a long enough list that I have to wonder if Kendrick was really as great and wise as Scott implies. I cannot say that Scott is wrong. But he failed to convince me.… (meer)