Alaska

This panoramic chronicle of Alaska captures the grandeur of its geography, history, and many larger-than-life personalities: 'Just plain terrific' (Bradford Washburn).The history of Alaska is filled with stories of new land and new riches-and ever present are new people with competing views on how these valuable resources should be used. Here are the stories of Russians exploiting a fur empire; explorers checking rival advances; prospectors stampeding to the clarion call of 'Gold!'; soldiers battling out a decisive chapter in WWII; oil wildcatters looking for a different kind of mineral wealth; and always at the core of these disputes is the question of how the land itself is to be used-and by whom.While some want Alaska to remain static, others are in the vanguard of change. Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land shows that there are no easy answers on either side of this perennial debate, and that Alaska will always be crossing the next frontier.