Category Archives: Book Reviews

Northern Journey

In his newest book. Northern Journey, Lew Freedman tells the stories behind the adventures which became his award-winning books and articles. Continue reading

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Review of Dr. J. T. White’s Diaries

A good review of Dr. Gary C. Stein’s 2021 book, “I Wish You Could Come Too”: The Alaska Diaries of Dr. James Taylor White, by Fairbanks-based reviewer David A. James, appeared in the Sunday, November 20, issue of the Anchorage Daily News. Continue reading

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Matanuska Colony Barns

Today the Matanuska Colony barns are an iconic reminder of what has been called the last great pioneering adventure in America. I have been living with, admiring, and photographing these picturesque barns for decades, and in 2012 I turned my longtime interest into a book, a video, and a website. Continue reading

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The Yukon Quest Trail

The 2020 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race begins in Fairbanks at 11:00 am on February 1, and runs to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory; the Yukon Quest 300 starts at 3:00 pm the same day and runs to Circle, on the Yukon River. There are many exciting books about the race, and many written by the mushers who have run the race, but one book focuses on the trail between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, highlighting the incredible route followed by those mushers who accept the very real challenge of the Yukon Quest.  Continue reading

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A New Books Site

I have reworked an old website I built a few years ago and it is now a showcase for my Baker’s Dozen books on Alaskan history. The front page displays all the book covers, and clicking on any book title will take you to an in-depth description and ordering information for that book. Continue reading

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The Ascent of Denali

Hudson Stuck (1865–1920), known as the Archdeacon of the Yukon and the Arctic, was an Episcopal priest, social reformer, and mountain climber in the territory of Alaska who co-led the first expedition to successfully climb Denali (Mount McKinley) in June, 1913. He wrote a book based on the climb, The Ascent of Denali (Mount McKinley): A Narrative of the First Complete Ascent of the Highest Peak in North America, which was published in February, 1914 by Charles Scribers Sons, New York.  Continue reading

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Across Alaska in 1907-08

In October 1907, his work for the 1906-1908 Anglo-American Polar Expedition completed, Ejnar Mikkelsen set out on a formidable journey home, which would take him west along the Arctic coast from Flaxman Island, where he left Leffingwell to continue doing scientific research and mapping. Mikkelsen’s trail led to Barrow, Nome, Fort Gibbon, Manley Hot Springs, Fairbanks, and then down the Fairbanks-Valdez Trail to Valdez, where he boarded a ship for home. The first part of his journey was made by dogsled, the second half riding in the horse-drawn sledges which travelled the winter trails. Continue reading

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Tribute to a Sled Dog

Prologue: Tribute to a Sled Dog, from “Sled dog : and other poems of the North,” by Charles E. Gillham, associate editor of Field & Stream magazine, an outdoor writer and game biologist. In 1934 he transferred to the Canadian Arctic as a Federal waterfowl biologist, and his arctic service resulted in four books, “The Raw North,” “Sled Dog,” “Beyond the Clapping Mountains” and “Medicine Men of Hooper Bay.” He left Alaska in 1945. Continue reading

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Addison Powell in Valdez

Addison M. Powell was an adventurer, prospector, hunter, and a guide for Captain William R. Abercrombie’s 1898 Copper River Exploring Expedition, one of three military expeditions organized to explore the interior of the new territory of Alaska. His book Trailing and Camping in Alaska, subtitled Ten Years Spent Exploring, Hunting and Prospecting in Alaska – 1898 to 1909, was republished in its entirety by Northern Light Media in September, 2018.  Continue reading

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Dog Gone Addiction

The international award-winning film by Becky Bristow, Dog Gone Addiction, follows three women as they test their personal limits, driving their dog teams through record cold temperatures and over icy mountain passes in the 2007 Yukon Quest, a 1,000-mile sled dog race from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory to Fairbanks, Alaska. The film focuses on a young Canadian mother, Michelle Phillips; Agata Franczak, a 48-year-old Polish adventurer; and Kelley Griffin, a veteran Alaskan musher. Continue reading

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