The Russians and Australia: Volume 1 of Russia and the South Pacific, 1696-1840

Known for his pioneering work on Russia's early exploits in Australia and the Pacific, historian Glynn Barratt again breaks new ground in presenting the first comprehensive study of Russian naval, social, mercantile, and scientific enterprise in New South Wales between 1807 and 1835.

Through Tsar Peter the Great's Dutch contacts, Russia was aware quite early of the existence of 'New Holland,' and a number of unsuccessful attempts were made to reach what is now Australia.

Following a description of these efforts, Barratt focuses on the seventeen visits that Russian ships made to Australian ports on voyages from the Baltic carrying supplies for the settlements in Kamchatka and Alaska. As a result of the good will generated by the Anglo-Russian alliance against Napoleonic France, relations between the British colonists and the Russian seamen were extremely cordial. While visiting Australia, Russian naval officers pursued a range of scientific activities, including botany, zoology, ethnography, and mineralogy, and collected specimens and artefacts. They also studied the British penal system and filled journals with detailed observations.

Available in Russian archives and museums and examined there by Barratt, the journals and collections, which until now have largely remained unexplored by historians, reveal the high level of skill and education of these early visitors to Australia. This is the first of four books in a series entitled Russia and the South Pacific, 1696-1840.