In his 1836 account, Washington Irving immortalized Astoria, but it has been a footnote to the history of western expansion - a reminder of John Jacob Astor's failed attempt to establish a fur-trading empire at the mouth of the Columbia from 1810 to 1813. This book tells the importance of the Astoria venture.

This book seeks to explore Astoria as part of a large and complex struggle for national sovereignty in the Northwest. That struggle was the culmination of a battle for American empire that had its beginnings in the Age Of Columbus. 'Astoria And Empire' argues the case for a wider stage and a larger cast.