In Russian Colonization of Alaska: Baranov's Era, 1799-1818, Andrei Val'terovich Grinëv examines the sociohistorical origins of the former Russian colonies in Alaska, or "Russian America." The formation of the Russian-American Company and the concentration in the hands of Aleksandr Baranov of all the power in south and southeast Alaska's Russian settlements marked a new stage in the history of Russian America. Expanding and strengthening Russian possessions in the New World as much as possible, Baranov acted in favor of his country before himself, in accordance with the principle "people for the empire, and not the empire for the people."
Russian Colonization of Alaska is the first comprehensive study to analyze the origin and evolution of Russian colonization based on research into political economy, history, and ethnography. Grinëv's study elaborates the social, political, spiritual, ideological, personal, and psychological aspects of Russian America, accounting for the idiosyncrasies of the natural environment, competition from other North American empires, and challenges from Alaska Natives and individual colonial diplomats. Rather than being simply a continuation of Russians' colonization of Siberia, the colonization of Alaska was instead part of overarching Russian and global history.
Andrei Val’terovich Grinëv is a professor in the Department of Social Sciences at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University in Russia. He has published more than 175 articles, primarily on the history and ethnology of Russian America. Grinëv is the author of several books, including Russian Colonization of Alaska: Preconditions, Discovery, and Initial Development, 1741–1799 (Nebraska, 2018) and The Tlingit Indians in Russian America, 1741–1867 (Nebraska, 2005). Richard L. Bland is a research associate for the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History. In addition to this volume, he also translated both of Grinëv’s books listed above.