The modern history of the North Pacific began five hundred years agowhen Europeans sailed into the ocean for the first time. This discoveryshaped the destinies of seven countries that now rim its Asiatic andNorth American shores: Russia, China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea,the United States, and Canada.
Their history is an exciting epic of discovery -- the greatexpeditions of Marco Polo, Drake, and Magellan; the quest for thespices of Cathay; the early days of the fur trade, the gold rush, andthe long treks westward across North America to first establishCanadian and American possessions on the Pacific shore.
Rivalry and confrontation were part of this epic. From the sixteenthto the nineteenth century European powers contested for the riches ofthe East and the West, the wealth of the ocean, and territory to satecolonial ambitions. Since that time full-blooded conflicts developedbetween Asian states and between Asia and the Western powers.
As a major trading power in the Pacific with no tradition ofterritorial expansion, and as a respected peacekeeper, Canada is in aunique position to view the history of the Pacific impartially. Thissurvey is doubly valuable, not only as the first history of the NorthPacific dealing with the concurrent events in the East and West, butalso as a history reflecting Canada’s international outlook.