JOHN R. BOCKSTOCE. Furs and Frontiers in the Far North: The Contest Among Native and Foreign Nations for the Bering Strait Fur

Until recently, colonial historiography has primarily examined imperi­ alism from the perspective of Europeans and downplayed the agency and role of indigenous peoples. In Furs and Frontiers in the Far North: The Contest Among Native and Foreign Nations for the Bering Strait Fur Trade, John R. Bockstoce examines the interactions that occurred be­ tween natives of the Bering Strait region and foreigners as they competed for control over the fur, walrus tusk, and whaling industries. Through Russian, British, and American expansion into the Bering Strait region, the history became, as one foreign trader predicted, “White men, whiskey, guns, powder and ball, small pox, debauchery, [and] extermination” (p. 297). However, Bockstoce successfully dem­ onstrates that natives actively sought, participated in, and altered trade in the region. Additionally, Furs and Frontiers details foreign explorations, expanding and shifting modes of commerce, and the life­ style changes that occurred in native communities throughout the Bering Strait region. In clearly laying out the history of the region, Furs