Bailey describes how the Sea of Okhotsk area became integrated into a world system of economic and cultural ties between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Individual chapters of the book provide analyses of historical sources which describe cross-cultural encounters and changes in the Sea of Okhotsk area. This includes analyses of explorers and travelers who traversed the region for commerce, exploration, diplomacy, and possible colonization. Historical sources are explored from the different perspectives of Russians, Japanese, Indigenous peoples, and international observers from Western countries.