The first complete biography of Matthew Calbraith Perry to appear in well over thirty years, this balanced assessment of the commodore’s long and varied military career deals with both his strengths and weaknesses. Best remembered for leading a naval and diplomatic expedition to Japan in 1853 and 1854, Perry succeeded where others before him had failed and ended Japan’s isolation from the West by signing a treaty that established formal diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan. Today Perry remains a respected figure in Japan as well as the United States, and the upcoming sesquicentennial of his expedition makes the publication of this book especially timely.

The noted naval historian John Schroeder draws on recent scholarship as well as archival sources to examine every phase of Perry’s career, from his service under Commodore John Rodgers in the War of 1812 to command of the Africa Squadron, the Gulf Squadron in the Mexican War, and the East India Squadron. He describes Perry’s efforts to modernize and improve the efficiency of the Navy, distinguishing himself not only as a sailor and diplomat but as a naval reformer who advocated technological innovations and better education and training for officers and sailors alike. The author establishes how Perry’s views on American expansion in the Pacific foreshadowed the era in which the U.S. Navy would be instrumental in forging an overseas colonial empire. Written for general readers with an interest in nineteenth-century American history, this interpretive biography will also appeal to those with a specialized interest in U.S. naval history.