đź“– How Long Does It Take to Read Astoria: Astor and Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Tale of Ambition and Survival on the Early American Frontier?
Astoria: Astor and Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Tale of Ambition and Survival on the Early American Frontier is 400 pages long, which means it has around 100,000 words (estimated 250 words per page). Wondering how much time you’ll need to finish it? Let’s break it down:
⏳ Reading Time Based on Speed
- Average Reader (200 words per minute): About 8 hours and 20 minutes—perfect for a relaxed weekend or a few cozy evenings with tea and snacks.
- Slower Reader (150 words per minute): Prefer to take your time? It’ll take around 11 hours and 7 minutes—enjoy it over several days at your own pace.
- Fast Reader (300 words per minute): Speed through in just 5 hours and 33 minutes—a quick, exciting read!
⏳ What If You Read One Hour a Day?
If you set aside just one hour each day, here’s how long it’ll take:
- At 200 words per minute: You’ll get through 48 pages per session and finish in 9 days—less than a week!
- At 150 words per minute: Reading 36 pages daily, you’ll wrap up in 12 days—a relaxed, no-rush read.
- At 300 words per minute: Speeding through 72 pages per session, you’ll be done in just 6 days!
📚 No Rush, Just Enjoy the Story!
No matter how fast or slow you go, Astoria: Astor and Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Tale of Ambition and Survival on the Early American Frontier is here for you. Whether you devour it in a weekend or savor it over time, it’s a fun, immersive read whenever you’re ready to jump in!

In the tradition of The Lost City of Z and Skeletons in the Zahara, Astoria is the thrilling, true-adventure tale of the 1810 Astor Expedition, an epic, now forgotten, three-year journey to forge an American empire on the Pacific Coast. Peter Stark offers a harrowing saga in which a band of explorers battled nature, starvation, and madness to establish the first American settlement in the Pacific Northwest and opened up what would become the Oregon trail, permanently altering the nation’s landscape and its global standing.
Six years after Lewis and Clark’s began their journey to the Pacific Northwest, two of the Eastern establishment’s leading figures, John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson, turned their sights to founding a colony akin to Jamestown on the West Coast and transforming the nation into a Pacific trading power. Author and correspondent for Outside magazine Peter Stark recreates this pivotal moment in American history for the first time for modern readers, drawing on original source material to tell the amazing true story of the Astor Expedition.
Unfolding over the course of three years, from 1810 to 1813, Astoria is a tale of high adventure and incredible hardship in the wilderness and at sea. Of the more than one hundred-forty members of the two advance parties that reached the West Coast—one crossing the Rockies, the other rounding Cape Horn—nearly half perished by violence. Others went mad. Within one year, the expedition successfully established Fort Astoria, a trading post on the Columbia River. Though the colony would be short-lived, it opened provincial American eyes to the potential of the Western coast and its founders helped blaze the Oregon Trail.