Product Description

In this sweeping epic of the northernmost American frontier, James A. Michener guides us across Alaska’s fierce terrain, from the long-forgotten past to the bustling technological present, as his characters struggle for survival. The exciting high points of Alaska’s story, from its brutal prehistory, through the nineteenth century and the American acquisition, to its modern status as America’s thriving forty-ninth state, are brought vividly to life in this remarkable novel: the gold rush; the tremendous growth and exploitation of the salmon industry; the discovery of oil and its social and economic consequences; the difficult construction of the Alcan Highway, which made possible the defense of the territory in World War II. A spellbinding portrait of a human community struggling to establish its place in the world, Alaska traces a bold and majestic history of the enduring spirit of a land and its people.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26893 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-12
• Released on: 2002-11-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 896 pages

From Library Journal
Another told-from-the-beginning-of-time Michener saga, this one featuring Alaska. The book begins a billion years ago. Its first characters are the mastadon and the woolly mammoth, followed by such other settlers as the Eskimos, Athapaskans, and Russians. Vignettes of characters as varied as the Danish navigator Vitus Bering, who explored Alaska for Russia's Peter the Great, and Kendra Scott, the young Colorado teacher who taught the Eskimo children during the recent Prudhoe Bay oil boom, illustrate the colorful history of this vast and exploited land. Early on the book is vintage Michener, but the momentum encounters an Arctic chill midway. Final sections are trite, uneven, and overloaded with stereotypes. Too cumbersome to be called fiction, but Michener fans will demand it anyway. Joan Hinkemeyer, Englewood P.L., Col.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
“Mr. Michener is still, sentence for sentence, writing’s fastest attention grabber.”
—The New York Times

“Always the master of exhaustive historical research, Michener tracks the settling of Alaska [in] vividly detailed scenes and well-developed characters.”
—Boston Herald

Review
?Mr. Michener is still, sentence for sentence, writing?s fastest attention grabber.?
?The New York Times

?Always the master of exhaustive historical research, Michener tracks the settling of Alaska [in] vividly detailed scenes and well-developed characters.?
?Boston Herald

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful and Realistic Portrait
Perhaps non-Alaskans are more taken with Michener's portrait of the state than those of us who live here, since we experience its grandeur and special essence every day. Nonetheless, for a cheechako, the author does an admirable job of conveying facts and feelings about the 49th state. While there is always the danger with historical novels that readers will not know where facts end and fancy begins, the historical backdrop is well-researched and essentially accurate.

Like other Michener works of this variety, the book weaves the stories of several families over a number of generations, and in doing so illustrates how today's Alaskans often have unusual family trees and complex cultural traditions. Throughout the book he develops some of the same themes that run through the state today, including the struggle to break free from the almost colonial status we once enjoyed at the hands of marginal government officials and outside corporate interests, the pride of being apart and different, and challenge/blessing of a uniquely diverse population.

The reader may think that the characters are "larger than life", but not necessarily so. Alaska has more than its share of vivid, grand, and heroic citizens whose stories could fill many long cold nights. While no substitute for a first-hand Alaska experience, Michener's Alaska-sized novel is a wonderful way to experience the state at a distance, and undoubtedly has whetted many people's appetites to come and see for themselves.

Michenerholism - Craving a rich tapestry of history and tales
First, let me announce my bias: I was born and raised in Alaska.

When I saw this novel on the bookshelves when it first came out, I promised myself I'd read it even tho I had never read anything by Michener. Well, some 20 years later, I finally read it. And -- boy! -- do I wish I hadn't waited so long. It's a long book (close to 1,000 pages) and I was so engrossed that I almost lost sight of the real world for the duration.

Of course, being from Alaska helps. I could orient myself geographically with little trouble. I had the broad outlines of the history already. And the historical names were almost all familiar to me if not the details of their lives.

But what Michener did which I most appreciate about his novel is painlessly impart the details of history by interweaving it so tightly with his colorful fiction that it was hard for me during the reading to separate the two. Yet I'm sure I know what is historical and what isn't. It's a contradiction, I know. And a compliment to this man's storytelling skill.

I let out a satisfied "whew!" when I closed the book a final time and returned to reality. Then I suffered withdrawal symptoms for days, maybe weeks. I found myself gazing wistfully at some of his other large works in the bookstores. Did you know there's no Michenerholics Anonymous? I've just begun reading THE SOURCE. I couldn't help myself.

alaska
it's a wonderful book that I have read before and have always wanted to own!!!