ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. In nineteenth century, historians in both Russia and the United States were interested in the two nations related to each other. Historians created a whole field of scholarship that dominated the field in the last half of the twentieth century and beyond. Scholars have engaged in exciting new research that helps new realities in Russian-American relations. The collection leads off with an article by Alexander Petrov that examines the complicated relationship between the new United States, Great Britain, and Russia in the Pacific Northwest. Petrov's study examines a critical part of the history of Russian America. All three countries laid claim to areas on the North American Pacific coast, mainly for colonization and trade and in competition for empire. Vladimir Noskov analyzes the American contribution to the project to build a railroad from St. Petersburg to Moscow in the 1840s.
