Barons of the Sea

Barons of the Sea: And their race to build the world's fastest clipper ship- Steven Ujifusa
Simon & Schuster
Release Date: July 17, 2018

Rating:
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Synopsis: There was a time, back when the United States was young and the robber barons were just starting to come into their own, when fortunes were made and lost importing luxury goods from China. It was a secretive, glamorous, often brutal business—one where teas and silks and porcelain were purchased with profits from the opium trade. But the journey by sea to New York from Canton could take six agonizing months, and so the most pressing technological challenge of the day became ensuring one’s goods arrived first to market, so they might fetch the highest price.

Barons of the Sea tells the story of a handful of cutthroat competitors who raced to build the fastest, finest, most profitable clipper ships to carry their precious cargo to American shores. They were visionary, eccentric shipbuilders, debonair captains, and socially-ambitious merchants with names like Forbes and Delano—men whose business interests took them from the cloistered confines of China’s expatriate communities to the sin city decadence of Gold Rush-era San Francisco, and from the teeming hubbub of East Boston’s shipyards and to the lavish sitting rooms of New York’s Hudson Valley estates.

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Today people are fascinated by the "Tall Ships" when they come into a port- people come from miles around to walk their decks and imagine what it might have been like to sail the open waters in these small  (to us) wooden ships with their giant sails.  But it wasn't all that long ago that these ships ruled the waves.  Barons of the Sea tells the uniquely American story of the race to build bigger and faster clipper ships in search of money and fame.

The first part of Barons sets the stage for the building race by giving the reader an intimate look at early 1800s shipping in China.  Confined to one port, allowed to deal only with a few specific Chinese individuals, British and American trading was a young bachelor's game- building connections, working hard, playing hard.  Americans followed the British lead of smuggling opium into China, then using the money from those sales to buy large shipments of goods like tea to bring back to New York or Boston and sell for often huge profits.  I had never read anything specific on the trade, the attempts of the Chinese to stop the opium shipments, or the Opium Wars that followed and was fascinated by the story.  Just as interesting was following the few young men Barons focuses on, men who became some of the first millionaires in America.  With names like Low, Aspinwall, Forbes, and Delano, men whose children and grandchildren would build universities, rule society, and become politicians (you may have heard of at least one, Franklin Delano Roosevelt), those stories all begin with the opium trade.

The close knit band of friends and rivals from China came back to America to build their families and send others back to China to increase the company fortunes.  But they recognized that the faster a shipment could reach America, the more money they would make.  So began the golden age of clipper ship building, as each tried to break the speed records of the other, adjusting ship designs to get as much speed as possible while still fitting large consignments of goods in the hulls.  When the gold rush sent thousands rushing to California, these same men knew that whoever could get to San Fransisco fastest would earn the most money, as basic goods in California were selling for five to ten times the price they were on the East Coast.

Barons fo the Sea is an interesting exploration of the 19th century trading and economic battles through the focus on a handful of leading men and their daring captains who attempted the dangerous voyages.  Those interested in maritime history, 19th century America, and early trading in China will especially appreciate the careful research and writing of this fascinating look into American history.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review