Facing West: Americans and the Opening of the Pacific

by John Curtis Perry

From the early years of the republic, many Americans anticipated a Pacific Age in world affairs that the United States would inevitably dominate, not in a territorial sense so much as in a cultural and commercial one. Despite the reality that Asia was of little real economic importance in American life until recently, a powerful image persisted in the American mind of the promises of riches to be found across the Pacific. This book provides the history of that dream, from the time of Spanish galleons to the hypersonic airplane of the future.

With bewildering speed, the North Pacific region has come to rival the North Atlantic as a global center of manufacturing, trade and information, and the generation of wealth. The economic statistics show that the Age of the Pacific has truly arrived. Perry vividly shows that from the early years of the republic many Americans anticipated a Pacific Age in world affairs that the United States would inevitably dominate, not in a territorial sense so much as in a cultural and commercial one. Despite the reality that Asia was of little real economic importance in American life until recently, a powerful image persisted in the American mind of the promise of riches to be found across the Pacific. This book provides the history of that dream, from the time of Spanish galleons to the hypersonic airplane of the future.

Countless books have been written about American-East Asian relations, but fewer books have addressed the importance of the Pacific Ocean to the United States. No one before has shown so comprehensively how Americans dominated the creation of trans-Pacific trade routes. This book will be of great interest to professional historians and the general public interested in the history of American-Pacific relations, the history of transportation, and the history of the entrepreneurial doers and dreamers who spearheaded American commerce with Asia.

400 pages, Hardcover

First published November 30, 1994

About the author

John Curtis Perry, also known as John Perry, was an East Asian and Oceanic studies professor and historian. He was the Henry Willard Denison Professor of History at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He was also the director of that school's Maritime Studies program and founding president of the Institute for Global Maritime Studies, until his retirement in 2014.
Perry wrote history books and articles on topics including Pacific Asia-US relations, the American occupation of Japan, American expansionism toward the Pacific Ocean, and Singapore's history. His writing style is characterized by artfully conveying history to the general reader with pith, wit, and clarity. The Japanese government awarded him the Imperial decoration of the Order of the Sacred Treasure for his contributions to US-Japan relations.

Reviews

[Vincent O'Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is simply brilliant. I studied under Professor Perry at The Fletcher School, and his grasp of this topic is only exceeded by his ability to relate historical events in a fashion that is insightful and entertaining. Covering facets of this interaction that are frequently ignored (such as the vital role played by mail delivery in the establishment of air routes across the Pacific) Professor Perry provides a perspective that will have you considering the world's largest ocean (and the nations that border it) in a whole new way.