Peter Stark (1) (1954–)

Not a bad mixture of history, adventure, politics and other subjects to flesh out the story. Narrative style history that will appeal to many. I would rather give this 3.5 stars on a whole. So much for not having half stars.

An interesting story, and one I'd never even heard of before. However, I'm not sure the narrative really "carried me on." It felt a bit flat in places, and the end come kind of suddenly and without any real sense of conclusion. But an piece of history that I'd otherwise be missing (and wouldn't have known to go looking for) so 4 stars.

TBH I drifted in and out, listening to this while doing other things. There's plenty of interesting history in here, difficult as it can be to read the history of colonization. The author seemed to do a good job of acknowledging that greater context.

"Unfolding from 1810-1813, Astoria is a tale of high adventure and incredible hardship, drawing extensively on
firsthand accounts of those who made the journey."

"Astoria is the harrowing tale of a quest to settle a Jameston-like colony on the Pacific coawt. Astor set out a global trade network based ar the mouth of the Columbia River in what is now Oregon, while Jefferson envisioned a separate democracy on the western coast that would spread eastward to meet the young United States."