1 comments about The Golden Grindstone: One Man's Adventures in the Yukon (Arctic Adventure).

1. Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (3/07)
   
   In 1897-1898 "would be miners ascended Alaska's Chilkoot Pass the Yukon River basin." But there were other trails that lead to the Klondike Gold Rush. All the routes were harsh but some were almost unendurable.
   
   "George M. Mitchell was an insurance broker in his early thirties." George had always lived an inactive life. He would occasionally fish or hunt but most of his life was inactive. Lured by the adventure of the Klondike Gold Rush, George "chose the most obscure, arduous, and downright implausible route to the goldfields." It's as though he said to himself: "no one, not even me, would ever think of insuring a person so incautious as to try to reach the Klondike via the peel river system and, specifically, the Wind River."
   
   Athabasca Landing was a small unassuming place before the gold rush. There were about 40 or 50 white men and about 200 Indians that came and went. George settled in for a bit preparing for the next leg of his journey. The party needed more manpower. When Craigie, a Scotsman, and Smith, a Welsh, approached George he hired them both. George enjoyed his time in Athabasca especially getting to know the people.
   
   "Grizzly bears were quite plentiful, and when he was on the main river or the larger creeks Mitchell used to see one or two of them every day, grubbing among the roots of the willows by the stream-side. One time George shot a young grizzly bear and when Bonnet Plume found out he cursed him. It was unsafe to tackle a grizzly alone. On another occasion he saw a large, pure white grizzly bear. It reared up in front of him. One time when George woke up a grizzly was sitting up on his haunches watching him.
   
   "The Golden Grindstone" by Angus Graham tells the fascinating story of one man on the adventure of a lifetime. Mr. Graham is an excellent storyteller and successfully shares the journey of George M. Mitchell as he makes his way to the Klondike Gold Rush. George Mitchell comes to life on the pages of this book. Many of the adventures are told with a humorous slant. Mr. Mitchell was a very brave man and faced many hardships as did other miners. I particularly enjoyed the tales concerning the wildlife and the Indians. I enjoyed learning about this special time in history and the men that sacrificed so much for gold and adventure. I highly recommend this book to fans of history, adventure and non-fiction.

1 comments about Lady Franklin's Revenge: A True Story of Ambition, Obsession, and the Remaking of Arctic History.

1. I found this book fascinating. Jane Franklin is an amazing, almost mythical woman. How refreshing to read about a commanding historical female! Her story is like a decadent cheesecake - best savoured in small slices. I found myself reading the short chapters one and two at a time to let them fully digest and swim around in my mind. I especially enjoyed the book spine. I would glance up at the bookshelf and see Lady Franklin gazing at me, daring me to read more. Delicious!

1 comments about Alone at Sea: The Adventures of Joshua Slocum.

1. A great book for anyone with an interest of the life and stories of Josua Slocum.I have read & Re-read "Sailing Alone,Around The World". A natural extention, "Alone At Sea",discibes "situations",not before written about.

5 comments about Walk with Me Through Alaska.

1. By:JOSEPH ROBERTIA
   Peninsula Clarion news
   
   
   Charley Dunn, a Soldotna resident for 42 years, has experienced a lot since first coming north as a wide-eyed young man in 1966, and if a person could earn a college degree for storytelling, he would hold a Ph.D. for his gift of gab.
   
   "I have been truly blessed to have had the opportunity to work, hunt, fish and explore in Alaska," he said.
   
   He said he has always enjoyed sharing tales of these experiences with others, but recently decided to take his storytelling a step further.
   
   "I'd tell a story and people would say, 'You should write this down,' so I finally just did it," he said.
   
   Dunn put together 25 to 30 of his more interesting, exciting and dangerous stories and sent the manuscript to two publishers, and immediately got offers from both. He decided to work with PublishAmercia a traditional publishing company whose primary goal is promoting the works of new, previously undiscovered writers and on Oct. 25, his 125-page book, "Walk With Me Through Alaska," was released.
   
   "People aren't going to believe some of the stories in the book, but they're all true," Dunn said.
   
   They take place all over the state, and Dunn said he did his best to make readers feel transported to the scene of these stories.
   
   "The areas where they occurred will be explained in detail so that you feel like you are with me in a walk across Alaska. I have included pictures so that you will be able to see the things I have seen. It is my sincerest hope that you will have the same sense of awe and inspiration that I have had about Alaska," he said.
   
   He begins the book by detailing how he came to Alaska to work as an oil field service laborer, and what was in town when he arrived.
   
   "There were no malls, fast food restaurants or large grocery stores. It was mostly dirt roads and just a few service stations without convenience stores," he said.
   
   After a few stories about working for Shell Oil Company, Sante Fe Drilling Company and Coastal Drilling Company, Dunn moves into detailing what he did in his off-time.
   
   Most of the stories are "pretty serious stories of adventure," Dunn said. There are tales of moose hunts up on Tustumena Lake, sheep hunts through the rugged mountains near Seward, and bear hunts on Kodiak where Dunn almost became the hunted instead of the hunter.
   
   There are also fishing accounts describing the heyday of king salmon fishing on the Kenai River and a story about guided halibut fishing out of Seward that is almost too good to believe, according to Dunn.
   
   "We had taken out two elderly women and an elderly man from Seattle, and their nephews from Anchorage. Between them they had caught eight halibut that when we got back weighed in at 1,068 pounds for the eight of them," he said.
   
   This meant the average weight of each fish was 133.5 pounds.
   
   "They got about 855 pounds of fillets," Dunn said, and explains in the book that at that time, halibut was selling for around $11 a pound back in Seattle, which meant the tourists had roughly $9,400 worth of delicious flatfish meat.
   
   Dunn said while there are numerous adventures stories in the book, there are also a handful of humorous tales and a few accounts that are just plain extraordinary, such as when Dunn and a friend saw an unidentified flying object up on the Little Killey River, and another time when he found an original copy of the "Call of the Wild" that was signed "To Hattie from Jack London" in a cabin on Tustumena Lake.
   
   "It would be worth a million dollars now, but we left it because it didn't belong to us," he said.
   
   As to who might enjoy reading Dunn's new book, he said there's something in it for everyone from the cheechako to the sourdough.
   
   "I think it would appeal to anybody who's interested in Alaska and the goings-on up here," he said.
   
   Asked if he thinks he will write another book now that he knows the process, he said you can count on it.
   
   "This book is by no means everything. I've lived a life some will only dream about, and I've lived to tell about it, and I'm planning on having more adventures in Alaska," he said.
   
   To learn more about Dunn's book, or to learn how to order a copy, visit his Web site at [...]
   
   Joseph Robertia



2. We are so thankful that our dad took the time to write a book about his life adventures. These are exciting, unbelievable stories that make you want to take on the world. God has been so good to keep and preserve this man all the days of his life and this book is just the begining of the fun exploits and encounters that the family has been blessed to hear stories about through the years. Anyone who likes outdoor adventure will enjoy this book. Alaska is unlike any other place you will ever experience.



3. I enjoyed every minute of this book. A very interesting quick read. I learned a little more about the state I live in and also found no problem following and understanding the author's life events. Those of us that live in Alaska have such diverse experiences due to our jobs, location, living conditions, weather, and natural events. I found myself feeling that I was there, watching as every event unfolded. This can be a harsh life in Alaska and this man chose to live it to it's fullest! Can't wait for the "rest of the stories!" Another book maybe???? Thanks for some of the tips on what to do and "NOT" to do while hunting or being out in this wonderful wilderness.
   
   Pat Ligenza - Anchor Point, Alaska



4. I have lived on the Kenai Penninsula for 32 years. I've worked many night shifts with Charlie Dunn and shared many stories with him. All the events in this book are true in fact I lived many events that are simular.
   This book explains events that several people have lived which is common to the life in Alaska. The adventure never ends. Ifyou want to know what living in Alaska is like, this is the book for you.
   
   Dan Winters



5. This is a really interesting book that is true to life.
   The author did a good job of portraying his life in Alaska.
   If you have plans to visit Alaska, this is a good book to read first.

5 comments about First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong.

1. "First Man" is the long awaited authorized biography of Neil Armstrong. The book is a significant work in the body of aerospace history, as Armstrong has consciously lived out of the public eye for most of his life since the Apollo 11 mission. To say the book is detailed is an understatement (did you know that Neil's childhood dog was named "Tippy"?), but James Hansen paints a vivid portrait of the man and his life with exquisite precision. The book is stunning for its depth of information, but is also very readable on a visceral, human level. The net result is a work demonstrating both great academic rigor and the essential character of the first man on the moon.
   
   The book, while keeping Apollo 11 as the center of its arc, does not dwell exclusively on Armstrong's role in the space program. I was pleased to read about his family and personal relationships: understanding these helps the reader to understand who Armstrong is and how he got to be that way. I was found the account of his relationship with his mother, Viola, enlightening, and appreciated the recounting of his role in the Korean war as a very young aviator. Understanding his later successes (and failures) in the greater context of his personal and professional life is one of the true successes of this book. I was, of course, transfixed by the account of the interpersonal relationships between Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins, the three "amiable strangers" of Apollo 11.
   
   Certainly the accounting of Armstrong's test pilot and spaceflight endeavors is of primary interest to anyone likely to read the book, but I was even more impressed than I expected to be by Armstrong's post-Apollo choices. I am especially struck by the parallels between Armstrong and Charles Lindbergh as Armstrong has aged. While still a vital man, Armstrong has willfully chosen to live his life modestly without relying on his fame as the first moonwalker for either ego or income gratification.
   
   This book is by no means a light read, but anyone with an interest in aerospace history should make this book a priority: it is astonishingly well documented, well written, and compellingly told. My earliest childhood memory is watching Armstrong walk on the moon; only now do I really understand and appreciate the "First Man" fully.



2. Simply put, there is no finer book in print that helps us understand the modern-day Christopher Columbus of our times - Neil Armstrong. Not only will you come to better understand the man, the First Man, but you will also walk away with a tremendous appreciation for the Apollo program generally and the Apollo 11 mission specifically. Budget some serious time to get through this book but add it to your list of reads for 2008.



3. James Hansen's authorized biography of pilot/engineer/astronaut Neil Armstrong is a well written and long awaited in-depth look at a man who has led a truly extraordinary life. His detailed accounts of Armstrong's roots, interests, loves, successes and tragedies made a captive reading experience for me. It was Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 journey that inspired my lifelong interest in spaceflight.
   
   I feel for him in his pursuit to maintain as much of a personal life as possible over the years. NASA and the space program may be owned by the taxpayers, but it's human participants are not. Neil has recognized this more than many others have.
   
   An excellent biography. I highly recommend it.



4. Somewhere in my reading, I remember someone who said that there is only one name from the 20th Century that is guaranteed to be remembered 1,000 years from now; the name of the first man to step foot on another planet, Neil Armstrong.
   
   I was alive when Apollo 11 landed and Armstrong made his historic step but, at 11 months old, far from old enough to remember the event. Despite that, though, the events of July 20, 1969 are so much a part of historical memory that it seems like we were all there. There's always been one mystery, though, and that's been the man who actually stepped off the Eagle and onto lunar soil for the first time. Now, the mystery is, at least somewhat, solved thanks to the publication of an fascinating biography of the First Man On The Moon, titled, appropriately enough, First Man.
   
   James Hansen, who was given extraordinary access to Armstrong himself as well as his family and personal records, tells a story that stretches from Armstrong's boyhood in Ohio, to Korea, to his years as a test pilot, all of which were mere training for his ultimate destiny. In addition to a mass (though not overwhelmingly so) of technical data about everything from the X-15 flights that Armstrong flew at Edwards AFB to the Gemini and Apollo programs, Hansen paints, as best he can, a portrait of an intensely private man who was thrust, willingly or otherwise, into an intense spotlight comparable to that of his boyhood hero Charles Lindbergh.
   
   Like Lindbergh, Armstrong was and is, it seems, the reluctant hero. Hansen consistently quotes him as giving equal credit for the achievements of Apollo 11 to his crew mates and the men on the ground and in the factories who built the Apollo program from the ground up.
   
   The most compelling parts of the book, of course, come when Hansen tells the story of the landing and first sojurn onto the lunar surface, including excerpts from recordings of conversations among the crew that were never broadcast publicly. After that, somewhat disappointingly, the book comes to a very quick close. The story rushes through the post-Apollo 11 euphoria and Armstrong's short involvement as a NASA administrator and offers vignettes showing the difficulties that he had coping with the public's fascination with him, some of which was obsessive to say the least.
   
   All in all, though, First Man is an excellent read, and, as the official biographer to the First Man on the Moon, Hansen has done a fabulous job with the task that Armstrong assigned to him.
   
   If you have any interest in the history of the American space program at all, this book is a must-read.



5. First Man is an extraordinary book for several reasons. Neil Armstrong has not allowed authors to write about his legendary and even tragic life events- so this book's very existence is an achievement.
   
   Written in exquisite detail (at times too inclusive), Hansen has painstakingly researched one of the most important figures in the history of mankind.
   
   One often finds himself wanting to skip to the "good parts," however, the flow of First Man keeps one interested in the stories as they unfold.
   
   Perhaps the most intriguing part of Armstrong's life are the numerous myths and legends that became urban legends. Hansen sets the record straight and exposes some unknown facts about the man who was to lead the way to the greatest adventure the human race has seen.
   
   Tahir Rahman, author of We Came in Peace for all Mankind

No comments about Scott's Last Journey.

3 comments about The Life of Hon. William F. Cody: Known as Buffalo Bill, The Famous Hunter, Scout, and Guide.

1. Like several other biographies of this legendary Plainsman, Scout, Buffalo Hunter and Indian Fighter of the American Frontier, this book is comprised mostly of a reprint of William F. Cody's own Autobiography. What makes it a better source than many of the other reprints of Buffalo Bill Cody's fascinating 1879 acount of his early life and adventures until he reached the age of thirty-four, this volume includes an excellent foreword by another noted author and historian of the Wild West, Don Russell. His foreword makes this first complete reprinting of the original autobiography much more understandable and provides additional valuable insights into the man who coined the term "Wild West." Buffalo BIll was, without any doubt, what we often refer to as "The Real McCoy." While Cody could spin a good tale too, he was modest and humble about his own adventures. Later historians have mostly authenticated, with only minor corrections, his scary-thrilling, matter-of-fact and plain spoken recollections of his life and adventures.This is a very good read and hard to put down until the very end of the book.



2. Autobiographies are at the same time the best and the worst sources of life stories. You get the authentic voice, but that voice tells you only what it wants you to believe. Both these characteristics are particularly strong here because Cody's voice is such a distinctive one and because of his status as a supreme self-promoter. So this book will not give you the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but it will give you a real insight into the mind of a man who in many ways epitomizes the culture of the historic American West. Some of it may shock you; Cody describes how he shot a mule who had annoyed him by running away, and boasts of how he scalped his fallen enemies. Hardly the stuff of popular myth. If you want to know how the west was really won, then reading this book (some of it 'between the lines') will tell you much.



3. The Wild West was an even more heroic epoch than is commonly understood. While Buffalo Bill became a self-promoter, basic facts are clear: he was a superior plains guide and scout and Indian fighter. He really was the master hunter of buffalo from horseback. He was a Pony Express rider, with all that entailed. He was friends with Wild Bill, Custer, and other notables. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery on the battlefield (though sadly it was removed many years later because of a bureaucratic technicality of how he had been employed by the Army, not because of any change in the evaluation of the heroic deeds.

   A most fascinating book. It gives one a different perspective to hear it from a participant.END

2 comments about Imperial Footprints: Henry Morton Stanleys African Journeys.

1. "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've all heard that quote. Some of us even know who said it. However, if that's all you know about Henry Morgan Stanley, you are in for a treat when you read Imperial Footprints. In his time, Stanley was compared with Christopher Columbus, and Newman makes it clear why. This is a well-written and very readable story. Newman has done an excellent job of capturing the adventure of Stanley's seven(!) African journeys, as well as his very interesting younger life. Did you know that Morgan fought in the American Civil War? On both sides??? I give Imperial Footprints my highest recommendation. If you like adventure stories, if you like well-written biography, Imperial Footprints is the book for you.



2. A hundred years after Henry Morton Stanley's death, his own African explorations have receded from public memory in favor of critical reviews of European colonialist expansion in Africa. James L. Newman returns Stanley's importance to the world with Imperial Footprints: Henry Morton Stanley's African Journeys, a re-creation of his seven African journeys which explains why and how he made them, and their lasting impact on the modern world. The blend of history, biography and travelogue makes for an exciting blend of researched fact and drama which reads like fiction, giving Imperial Footprints an edge over other coverages on Stanley.

5 comments about The Evolution of a State or Recollections of Old Texas Days (Barker Texas History Center series).

1. We found this book to be full of interesting stories about early Texas. It was helpful in finding information about our ancestors and our early Texas family.



2. I learned of this book through the H-Texas History forum online and I was not disappointed. Occasional "old time" expressions make the account interesting and remind the reader that the writer is speaking from another time. The story as told from a first-person point of view was enhanced by my prior knowledge of events in Texas history. Reading about those events in the words of a person who was there was impressive. I highly recommend this book. I have purchased copies as gifts.



3. Read about what happened from someone who was really there for the early days of Texas.



4. Dictated to one of his daughters when he was well past eighty, Noah Smithwick witnessed the panorama of Texas History. From the early days of Austin's Colony to the the aftermath of the Civil War, the text is lively with a dry sense of humor. But the reader is urged to use this book with caution. Some facts don't match up with other documents that were written at the time, instead of years later. (Noah had been banished from Texas in a round-about way. He had made a rifle and loaned it to another settler, who promptly used it to commit a murder.) Smithwick seemed to posess a fair education, which on the Texas frontier was something of an accomplishment. Blacksmith, carpenter, tobacco smuggler, gunsmith, racontour par excellance and even somewhat of a romantic, Smithwick's book is well worth reading.



5. Noah Smithwick was an old man, blind and near his ninetieth year, when his daughter recorded these words. After his death in 1899, she polished the manuscript and had it published in 1900. He had stayed on in "paradise" Texas from 1827 to 1861, when his opposition to secession took him to California. This book is his story of these "old Texas days." If his memory for facts sometimes fails him, his stories never do.

No comments about Alan Villiers: Voyager of the Winds.