![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Alaska is a lush, enjoyable reading experience as well as an educational one, and I truly appreciate the fact that it served up both ingredients in such abundance. Michener guides us through Alaskas fierce terrain and history, from the long-forgotten. This awakening was a very slow process however, as it took another sixty-two years before Alaska would to win its hard-fought battle for statehood in 1959. In this sweeping epic of the northernmost American frontier, James A. The Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98 and subsequent gold discoveries at Dawson’s Creek, Nome and other areas initially, and finally, caught America’s eye. In the interim, this ‘great land’ was left at the mercy of dirty politics and even dirtier politicians, lobbied by gluttonous west coast merchants making money hand over fist in their Alaskan trade ventures, which drained Alaska’s resources with no concern given to their replenishment. Secretary of State William Seward who signed the agreement for its purchase from Russia in 1867), the American government foolishly and shamefully ignored the well-being of Alaska’s people and natural resources for well over one hundred years. From its primitive beginnings on through its long and agonizing quest for statehood, I was mesmerized by the author’s rich historical detail and finely drawn, colorful characterizations of the natives and pioneers who settled this vast and often formidable land. In a novel almost as magnificent as its subject matter, Michener tells the engrossing story of Alaska (derived from the Aleut word “Alyeska” meaning “great land” or “that which the sea breaks against”). ![]()
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