Eric Jay Dolin

Eric Jay Dolin is the author of Leviathan: The History of Whaling In America, which was chosen as one of the best nonfiction books of 2007 by the Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe, and also won the 2007 John Lyman Award for U. S. Maritime History; and Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America. A graduate of Brown, Yale, and MIT, where he received his Ph.D. in environmental policy, he lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

His latest book is When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail.

From Dolin's Q & A with Patrick Brzeski at the Wall Street Journal:

The Wall Street Journal: What can be learned about the contemporary U.S.-China relationship by studying its starting point?

Mr. Dolin: It’s first interesting to note how many things essentially haven’t changed. At the very outset, the United States had a keen interest in China, but it was all a question of import and export and how much money could be made. Today, although there are much broader relationships, at its base, most Americans and policymakers look at China through the lens of trade. Related to this are parallel concerns over the deficit. From the very start of the China trade, America was running a trade deficit, and it’s something we’re still dealing with now. To some extent, the dream that Americans have held from the beginning—of China becoming an almost unlimited market for American goods—to this day remains unrealized.

The book is filled with colorful characters—merchants, pirates and sea dogs. Did you have any favorite discoveries?

Because of the period, a lot of this story revolves around men, but I really liked Harriet Lowe. Harriet was a relative of a well-known American trader, so she was able to accompany him to Macau with her aunt. She was young, single, and she kept a diary of her experiences, which is full of amusing and insightful observations of the world around her. What bugged her most was how men had the approval of society to go around the world seeking fortune and adventure, while women were closeted and lived much more constrained lives. She rebelled in a kind of proto-feminist way. One of her big dreams was to...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Eric Jay Dolin's website.

Dolin is the author of Leviathan: The History of Whaling In America and Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America.

The Page 99 Test: Fur, Fortune, and Empire.

The Page 99 Test: When America First Met China.

--Marshal Zeringue