Dolin, Eric Jay

"The best-selling author of Leviathan returns with the first major historical account of America's hurricanes, and reveals how they've shaped our nation. From the moment European colonists laid violent claim to this land, hurricanes have had a profound and visceral impact on American history-yet, no one has attempted to write the definitive account of America's entanglement with these meteorological behemoths. Now, best-selling historian Eric Jay Dolin presents the five-hundred-year story of American hurricanes, from the nameless storms that threatened Columbus' New World voyages, to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the escalation of hurricane season as a result of global warming. Populating his narrative with unlikely heroes such as Benito Vines, the nineteenth-century Jesuit priest whose revelatory methods for predicting hurricanes saved countless lives, and journalist Dan Rather, whose coverage of a 1961 hurricane would change broadcasting history, Dolin uncovers the often surprising ways we respond to natural crises. A necessary work of environmental and cultural history, A Furious Sky will change the way we understand the storms on the horizon of America's future"--.

During American piracy's 'Golden Age' spanning the late 1600s through the early 1700s, lawless pirates plied the coastal waters of North America and beyond. American colonists at first supported these outrageous pirates in an early display of solidarity against the Crown, and then violently opposed them. The author depicts the pirates of this period, among them towering Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and Edward Low, and discusses how, once the colonies position strengthened, these pirates were eliminated, almost always violently, from the American Atlantic.

Surveys the history of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, describing its structure, current function, and influence on American society.

Provides an overview of the relationship between the United States and China dating back to the nineteenth century, featuring anecdotes and vignettes that discuss pirates, drug runners, slave traders, and other intriguing historical figures.

Provides a social and economic history of whaling in the United States, discussing the industry's beginnings in the mid-seventeenth century, peak in the mid-eighteenth century, and downfall during the twentieth century. Includes illustrations.

Photographs and text chronicle the rich history of wildlife refuges throughout the United States, profiling the plants, birds, and animals that can be found in them.

Traces the rise and fall of the fur trade in America since the early seventeenth century, and discusses its influence on westward expansion.