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Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
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Editorial Review :

The astonishing saga of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's survival for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas, as "Time" magazine put it, "defined heroism". Alfred Lansing's scrupulously researched and brilliantly narrated book--with over 200,000 copies sold--has long been acknowledged as the definitive account of the "Endurance's" fateful trip. of photos and maps. Nationwide traveling museum exhibition.

Customer Review :

Top ten of all time

This is one of the very best "adventure" stories of all time. You can not possibly go wrong buying this book if you have any interest at all in adventure books. I have read several books on this subject. This one, in my opinion, is the best.

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Endurance

Definitely non-fiction, but written in an easily read manner. Even knowing how it all turns out, it was a great adventure.

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They wore wool

An earlier reviewer, with experience of frigid conditions in Alaska, cast some doubt on the ability of these men survive while wet in below zero temperatures and howling wind chill factors. It does sound incredible, especially when they were in the boats with no source of heat. But I note that they wore mostly wool undergarments, trousers and sweaters, with gabardine overcoats. Also fur-lined boots. Gabardine, at least back then, was made of worsted wool. Their sleeping bags, often soaked as well, were made from reindeer hides. Fur-lined, that is. I also note Allan Frey's excellent survival book, based on 40 years of living in the Yukon territory, often in a teepee. He prefers wool as well -- and I have cashed in some of my outdoor gear for wool pants and parka. It retains insulating qualities even while soaked and compressed. How else do you think the critters who originally wore it survived outdoors without tents or roofs over their horned heads?

Had these men slept in and been garbed in what most outdoorsmen wear today -- down shrouded in nylon or polyester -- we wouldn't be reading this phenomenal book because they would all have perished in the first year. Even the newest miracle fillings -- Hollofil and the like -- would have blown out of their shredded shells like that down wafting from weeds in the Spring. I don't think they had duct tape for patching such shells back then -- a common site among modern outdoorsmen in their Michelin-man coats.

Yes, in a long, dire emergency -- give me Shackleton every time. And I had btter be clad in leather and wool.

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Required Reading

There are a few books we can consider required reading of a modern educated person. Anne Frank's diary would be one, and I think this version of the Shackleton drama would be another. I have a friend who reads it every year.

Because there are so many strong reviews of this book, I'll speak briefly of something that might be overlooked.

In the eyes of most readers, the most astonishing thing about this adventure is that not a single life was lost. And that truly is amazing. Obviously, things could have gone much worse with just a tiny bit more bad luck. But I'd note something that might be just as strange. In all of the grueling and painful twists in this adventure, Shackleton seems never to have lost the trust and respect of his men. Think of that. Every little decision he made was potentially fatal for the whole crew, and he often had to make decisions that had every chance of being lethally wrong. And yet his men stood stoutly behind "the old man" and were prepared to die with that kind of total trust.

Anyone who wants to be a leader should read this book annually and think about what qualities were present in Shackleton that allowed him to be such an effective leader under such wretched circumstances.

Sometimes our minds can be our worst enemies. Rational thought can save the life of an explorer caught in a life-threatening crisis. But when the situation we are in is apparently hopeless, rational thought is our potential enemy. There were many times during the Shackleton adventure when a rational person would have to conclude that the story had no chance of getting a happy ending. That is when "endurance" becomes a queer virtue, when you put one foot in front of the other in spite of the fact that you are suffering hugely in an effort that is "surely" doomed to fail.

I am not a great fan of adventure literature, and yet the best of it is utterly captivating. In a sense, extreme adventures can be like laboratories that experiment with human nature, testing the limits of what it can do. Nobody would ever get permission to put humans in such grim and painful circumstances as they chose to put themselves in for these grand adventures. Since they do volunteer to do dangerous and painful things, we can take advantage of the chance to see how the human spirit fares when exposed to the worst possible tests.

And that is the particular gift of this book. Without blinking in its description of the hell these men experienced, the author shows us how magnificently they were led and how courageously they fought to keep alive. In the end, they proved that the human spirit can soar above threats and challenges that seem perfectly invincible. The salvation these men ultimately earned was bought at a terrible price, and yet we can thrill with them when we see them prevail when it was surely "impossible" that they would.

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Brilliant and breath-taking

An absolutely fantastic account of an ordeal almost beyond belief. The reading was wonderful, because the writing was impeccable. Granted, one can't really go wrong with a subject this fascinating; Shackleton's voyage (actually several voyages in one, or so it seemed) is something that is hard to fathom. How he actually accomplished what he did in those conditions is something I don't think we'll ever really understand, unless you believe in miracles. And Lansing's account of it is flawless.

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The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
Price : $29.95 $8.10
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  1. ISBN13: 9780375404030
  2. Condition: NEW
  3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

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Customer Review :

A remarkable account that takes you with the explorers

This expedition was a failure in that Shackleton and his fellow explorers never accomplished the intended exploration. But this is a monumental story of survival I haven't read anything like this since, I believe, I was in my teens and engrossed in the arctic and antarctic explorations.The ship which carried the men to the South polar region was aptly named although the ship itself was ultimately lost in the wastes. Personal journal accounts and photographs taken during the ordeal are liberally used to tell us this story which is as enthralling as any fiction and yet is totally true. The fact that no human lives were lost during the months these men were trapped in the ice is of course incredible. This would be a great gift book for those armchair adventurers on your list.

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Inspiring and Beautiful

A dear friend gave me this book when it was released and I became hooked on all things "Polar". The Frank Hurley photos alone are worth the price of the book. If you really want a treat, check out the photos under a magnifying glass---there are many interesting details missed with a casual glance. This is Ms. Alexander's best work (I read The Bounty a few years ago, and while a nice read, it pales in comparison to this gem.) I've given at least a half-dozen copies of this book to friends and family. And, while it may have the dimensions of a coffee table book, please read it if you have it; the prose is tight---and the Hurley photos. This book would be an excellent gift to a young person, as the photos are spectacular, but more importantly, the example of leadership of Sir Earnest Shackleton (a true leader) is inspiring to say the least.
Very highly recommended.

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Amazing skill of blending diary detail and pictures

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition (Alfred A. Knopf 2008, original printing in 1998)

The story of the trek of Ernest Shackleton and his crew across Antarctica in 1914-1915 is told in this magnificent biography in a manner so that the reader feels a part of the crew. The trip was undertaken in the wooden ship Endurance with sails billowing and steam engines throbbing on its way into the icy domain of South Georgia and the South Pole. It was not the first mission to the frozen world.

Danger vested immediately as the ship was consumed by the icy forces of raw nature and the crew, including 69 sledging dogs and a cat named Mrs. Chippy, was on its won with no means of escape. The adventure was captured with the artistic photography of Frank Hurley, with many previously unpublished photos prominent in this story.

Endurance was entombed by ice in the early months of 1915. The story touches on the lives and feelings of the crew, as well as the amazing leadership of Shackleton. He seemed to prize optimism in his men, which he referred to as "true moral courage." The reader is there with these brave souls, anticipating each step in the process with the enduring question of whether they will survive to return to England (and World War I) -- boiling whale blubber, catching penguins for food, tending to the parasite infested dogs, addressing the aches and fears of the crew, giggling at the antics of the dogs, or the seeing the natural beauty of the icescape.

By August of 1915, the blocks of young ice were grinding on Endurance, eventually breaking it up and sending crew and dogs on their way, even teams of men pulling the life boats. In April 1916, the team finally came to land at Elephant Island ending their trek across thin ice. The n Shackleton led a crew across 800 miles of ocean and ice back to South Georgia. Rescue of the men and dogs on Elephant Island finally occurred in August 1916.

Caroline Alexander has an amazing skill of blending diary detail and pictures to allow us readers to enjoy the optimism of the beginning, the agony of the shipwreck, the leadership of Shackleton, and the strength of character to endure the way forward. I felt as if I was on the journey, relieved at last to be on my way home with not a life lost! Simply Amazing!

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Unexpected pleasure

This was a book that I thought would be an interesting adventure, but what I got was so much more! It was the story of a Captain, who you can only grow to respect, that led his men through the toughest of situations with the fairness and heroicism of a true leader. Written in textbook style, it is a book that, surprisingly, you will not be able to put down.

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Remarkable Voyage Told in Text and Photos

Explorer Ernest Shackleton didn't know when he named his boat "The Endurance" that he would be foreshadowing a survival experience for the ages. The story of his nearly two years of survival in the Antarctic and southern polar areas is one of endurance and fortitude in the face of unimaginable physical hardships.

The text and the photos evoke the many emotions and thoughts that must have occurred to Shackleton and his men: loneliness, fear, raw beauty, untamed nature, comradeship, dirt, exhaustion, hopeless, and triumph. This book, more than any other I can think of, makes the case for having photos accompany non-fiction works whenever possible. The photos are stunning, especially when it's considered that they were done with glass-plate technology that had to survive the incredible journey to safety of Shackleton and his men.

A recap of the tale. Unlike some polar explorers, Shackleton was well-prepared when he went on his fateful journey in 1914. He'd held the record at one time for the overland voyage closest to the South Pole -- and almost perished on the journey -- and so he knew what to do and not to do to overcome the harsh conditions. So when he set out to make the first crossing of the Antarctic ice cap, he was ready for spending a long time on the unforgiving ice. However, due to bad luck of setting sail (yes, sail) in a wood boat during a year when the winter storms came early, he was trapped on the ice with 22 men and their dog teams.

After they wintered on the ice, living in the boat for a while and then on tents when the boat sank, Shackleton and his men truly began to suffer as they tried to find a way home. First, they tried to walk. But the terrain was so rough and they had to carry so much stuff for the long walk that they were averaging 1.5 miles per day. Then they sat on ice floes, waiting for the water to clear so that they could sail their lifeboats through treacherous waters without being crushed. And then in three boats of less than 30 feet length, they sailed several hundred miles through gales and storms over six days, only to land on one of the most isolated, desolate spots of rock in the world. From there, Shackleton set sail again in a single boat with a crew of five, and they went more than 800 miles to a speck of an island, where there was a whaling station. Of course, he landed on the opposite end of the island and had to walk over ice-covered mountains thousands of feet high in order to reach the station and ultimate rescue.

It's simply impossible to imagine living in a tent on an ice floe, with 80-mph gales blowing for days, and eating penguin or seal stakes every day for months on end. It's impossible to imagine not having a hot bath for more than two years, or enduring a ride in a waterlogged boat for in icy waters for six days, especially after already having been worn down by more than year of living in sub-human conditions. But Shackleton and the other men did it -- apparently with mostly good cheer and optimism.









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The Worst Journey in the World (Penguin Classics) The Worst Journey in the World (Penguin Classics)
Price : $18.00 $10.34
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  1. ISBN13: 9780143039389
  2. Condition: NEW
  3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Editorial Review :

The Worst Journey in the World recounts Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. Apsley Cherry-Garrard—the youngest member of Scott’s team and one of three men to make and survive the notorious Winter Journey—draws on his firsthand experiences as well as the diaries of his compatriots to create a stirring and detailed account of Scott’s legendary expedition. Cherry himself would be among the search party that discovered the corpses of Scott and his men, who had long since perished from starvation and brutal cold. It is through Cherry’s insightful narrative and keen descriptions that Scott and the other members of the expedition are fully memorialized.

Customer Review :

These had to be the toughest and craziest guys on the planet

This is one of those books where I was constantly putting it down to tell my wife the amazing thing I had just read only to dive right back into the book. This is the tangible definition of the term "page turner." Set in the early 1900's a group of mostly British explorers set sail and make the long journey to Antarctica. The ship voyage alone is an amazing adventure and I was awestruck by the challenges this group had to overcome before they even made it to the continent. Once there, they spent 3 years on Antarctica eating almost nothing but pemmican and biscuits and drinking tea and cocoa.

These guys were born to explore - the ultimate extreme environment junkies. Battling unbelievable cold temperature (-10 F was considered warm) where they would be disappointed if the temperature rose above freezing (the ice on their clothes would thaw and then quickly freeze again, hardening their attire) this group of explorers set up bases all over Antarctica and then start exploring.

Heavy on the scientific aspects of their journey and even heavier on the human effort to withstand their atrocious surroundings, THE WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD is better than any action/adventure novel you'll ever read. It's ROBINSON CRUSOE but real life and much, much colder!

I was heartbroken whenever a member of the expedition died from extreme fatigue brought on by excessive frostbite, or when a group of them were found frozen in their sleeping bags, or when one brave soul knew that the only way to save his party from his own fatigue was to walk alone into a blizzard and never come back.

I live in Minnesota and happened to be reading this during a very cold winter but felt guilty going from a warm house, into -20 temperature and into a warm building and listening to people complain about the cold. Imagine if -20 F was considered room temperature and 10 above considered a heat wave?

For adventure readers and lovers of stories about human beings stretching themselves to the extreme THE WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD is a must-read!

Mark McGinty is the author of ELVIS AND THE BLUE MOON CONSPIRACY

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-77F with gale force winds...

This should not be one's first read of Antarctic journeys but is a 'must read' in the broader collective of work of explorations before modern technology and clothing, media hype, and corporate sponsorship. The book is extremely well-written in a journal style. I'm not sure that the tremendous effort of man-hauling sledges, crevasse crossings and rescues, and facing -77F and gale force winds is sufficiently descriptive. Scott perished but 11 miles from supplies of oil and food and that perhaps best notes him in Antarctic exploration. His somewhat obvious poor choices in the use of motor sledges(for hauling) and ponies (for hauling and food)are underplayed because of the journal style. The early descriptions of killer whales navigating and busting through sea ice in an attempt to eat them, their ponies, and their dogs is noteworthy.

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Stark and stunning

Having enjoyed books on the subject of Shackleton's attempt at the South Pole, a friend suggested I check out this book concerning Scott's journey. The irony of these two stories is that Shackleton's trip (detailed very well in the book Endurance) was a failure in all regards except for the fact that he brought home every man in his group alive, whereas Scott's journey was successful at reaching the pole but then suffered multiple casualties.
The Worst Journey in the World is an amazing read, but very difficult at times. It's assumed that the reader knows a decent bit about polar expeditions as you are dumped into terminology and basic maneuvers with no explanation. I had very little knowledge of such things and found myself looking up words fairly often and rereading passages to understand what "hoosh" was or what the point of depoting supplies is. The result is that I learned a lot and eventually came to read this book on it's terms, which was highly enjoyable. However a quick crash course on polar exploration in the early 20th century wouldn't have been the worst idea before starting this read.
With all of that out of the way I have nothing left but praise. Making heavy use of the actual journals and diaries of the explorers this book gives the reader a delicious sense of immediacy. The title trip, for example, in which a three man team makes a journey in the dead of the antarctic winter to retrieve some penguin eggs for study, is one of the more gripping accounts I have ever read anywhere. Likewise, the final words and notes from Scott himself, recovered after his death, as he attempts to stumble and slog his way back from the pole during a freak blizzard are heartbreaking.
I highly recommend this book but am also compelled to give warning that it can get a bit technical at times and requires some outside knowledge for decent comprehension.

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An unforgettable journey

The story of an unforgettable journey. This book has details of the journeys undertaken in 1910-1912 by the men of this polar expedition. Their courage and "never give up" attitude are a testament of the type of men they were. Reading the account of their adventures from the diaries of several different men gives a more complete perspective than the diary of one man could give. Definitely an exciting book. Leaves you in awe of what they achieved with no more than they had almost 100 years ago. They were true explorers.

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Antarctic Thriller

An adventure story just doesn't get any better than this, and what adds to the readers pleasure is that it is all true. I was fortunate enough to read this while on an Antarctic cruise. The descriptions of Antarctica and the conditions faced by this expedition are terrific. This book is about character, endurance, hope, tragedy, and ultimately, wonder and awe !

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Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places
Price : $24.99 $13.52
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  1. ISBN13: 9780316042918
  2. Condition: NEW
  3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Average Customer Rating :

Editorial Review :

From avalanches to glaciers, from seals to snowflakes, and from Shackleton's expedition to "The Year Without Summer," Bill Streever journeys through history, myth, geography, and ecology in a year-long search for cold--real, icy, 40-below cold. In July he finds it while taking a dip in a 35-degree Arctic swimming hole; in September while excavating our planet's ancient and not so ancient ice ages; and in October while exploring hibernation habits in animals, from humans to wood frogs to bears.

A scientist whose passion for cold runs red hot, Streever is a wondrous guide: he conjures woolly mammoth carcasses and the ice-age Clovis tribe from melting glaciers, and he evokes blizzards so wild readers may freeze--limb by vicarious limb.

Customer Review :

Book group selection for December 2010


Living in Alaska - Eagle River in fact - I can't help but find all the intriguing facts in this book of great interest. But of course the issues - Global Warming - (can we capitalize that now?) are of world wide import and while I do not feel Bill Streever is trying to take "sides" on this topic, or if he is, I think it is the side that feels world wide processes are so much greater than our small piece of time that the earth will get over it regardless of what we do. "We" are of only passing consequence in the big picture. And it is the big picture that is interesting. What does temperature do to various elements? How have living things adapted to it? Among all this big picture stuff there is of course some practical applications. How long can you tread water? What should you wear? How not to starve in the cold... and other such items pack the book. Why did some explorers do better than others? What historical bits detail the experience of people in the cold? Great stuff. Thanks fellow Eagle River resident! See you on campus.


Rating :



Fascinating anecdotes, beautifully told

"Cold" by Bill Streever is a beautifully-written book, one of the best I have read in this genre.

Streever goes on a year-long quest for cold, with a Chapter devoted to each month. In each month he discusses particular "cold events" that occurred in the month, such as the severe US blizzard of January 1888 - the School Children's Blizzard.

These examples are interspersed with personal details of his own life and studies of cold as the year unfolds. In Streever's book this works well, and some of his descriptive passages are very evocative. This is a pleasant change from some other books in the genre that are simply vehicles for narcissistic display by the author. In "Cold" the subject enjoys the limelight, not the author elbowing the actors out of the way.

Some of Streever's anecdotes are truly surprising: lumps of ice falling out of the sky the size of a man in the 19th century, snowflakes 15 inches across. He explains how the Year Without a Summer (1815) contributed to the invention of the bicycle.

He gives an excellent account of hypothermia, and why some of its victims die soon after being rescued.

Streever lives in Alaska, and life there is very different to life in more temperate places. Houses sink as permafrost melts. People burn down their homes trying to un-freeze frozen pipes with blowtorches. Frost heave pushes posts out of the ground.

Most living tissue cannot survive being frozen. Streever gives some graphic accounts of how freezing affects cells. So I am not too optimistic for the future of James Bedford, who has been stored in liquid nitrogen since 1967, awaiting a cure for cancer.

Remarkably, a surprising number of living creatures can survive freezing. There is a caterpillar in Alaska that routinely "hibernates" over winter by freezing solid, and thawing out in spring to go about its business. Some frogs freeze. The most striking example of cold tolerance is the African desert fly that can even survive liquid helium at -450 degrees F.

When skiing I get ravenously hungry. Streever explains why this is so. Apart from the calories needed to sustain vigorous exercise, we also need a remarkable amount of energy simply to counteract the effects of cold. Early Polar explorers did not appreciate this aspect of nutrition sufficiently when planning food supplies for their expeditions and many died because they simply did not have enough food.

One could go on listing the fascinating aspects of cold discussed in the book. Naturally, not everything can be included. But I would have liked some mention of cold-induced brittle fracture of Liberty ships in World War 2. Twelve Liberty ships broke in half without warning because the grade of steel used suffered from embrittlement. Ships in the North Atlantic were exposed to temperatures that could fall below a critical point and thus the hull could fracture relatively easily.




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A Primer on Cold

I really enjoyed reading the book. I will admit that some of it comes across disjointed at times and the author does not go into as great a depth as my curiosity would have liked, but the topic of Cold is really quite vast and in order to keep the book moving and from turning into a 1,000 page dissertation, I think it was necessary to keep topics brief.

Overall, I give this book perhaps a star better rating because there are not many books written on Cold as a whole and stand-alone topic that I am aware of and I think it deserves some credit for tackling the subject.

I look at this book as a starting point for further exploration of the cold. Kind of a Primer on Cold.


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A Journey to Times and Places Unknown

I recently finished reading The City of Z, a book that took you through one of the most forbidding places on earth, the Amazon Jungle. "Cold" takes the readers to other forbidden regions and to times and places that they simply could have no hope of ever witnessing personally. It is wonderful that adventurers and scientists share these journeys and this knowledge with those of us who lead more mundane lives and seldom get the opportunity to venture beyond the narrow boundaries of our day to day existence. I hope to someday visit Alaska too see a little of its landscapes and features that Mr. Streever describes so interestingly.

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Offering a poetic, involving and moving account of the author's experiences of cold

COLD: ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD'S FROZEN PLACES is packed with examination of cold and ice, offering a poetic, involving and moving account of the author's experiences of cold and its importance in a warming world. From a history of the influence of cold on the planet to a personal quest for ice and cold mid-summer, this blends history with natural history in an unusual, passionate guide to cold and ice. Any science, environmental studies, or nature collection will find it a moving survey.

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The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness
Price : $15.00 $8.53
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  1. ISBN13: 9780743453141
  2. Condition: NEW
  3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Average Customer Rating :

Editorial Review :

Hundreds of hardy people have tried to carve a living in the Alaskan bush, but few have succeeded as consistently as Heimo Korth. Originally from Wisconsin, Heimo traveled to the Arctic wilderness in his feverous twenties. Now, more than three decades later, Heimo lives with his wife and two daughters approximately 200 miles from civilization -- a sustainable, nomadic life bounded by the migrating caribou, the dangers of swollen rivers, and by the very exigencies of daily existence.

In The Final Frontiersman, Heimo's cousin James Campbell chronicles the Korth family's amazing experience, their adventures, and the tragedy that continues to shape their lives. With a deft voice and in spectacular, at times unimaginable detail, Campbell invites us into Heimo's heartland and home. The Korths wait patiently for a small plane to deliver their provisions, listen to distant chatter on the radio, and go sledding at 44° below zero -- all the while cultivating their hard-learned survival skills that stand between them and a terrible fate.

Awe-inspiring and memorable, The Final Frontiersman reads like a rustic version of the American Dream and reveals for the first time a life undreamed by most of us: amid encroaching environmental pressures, apart from the herd, and alone in a stunning wilderness that for now, at least, remains the final frontier.

Customer Review :

Gripping

This book grabbed me and held me captive for two days. I had to finish it, no choice. Like every great read I was sad when it ended. I felt like I had spent a few weeks with the Korth family and got to know and care about them. I want to know what happens next. I feel like I now understand the recent history of Alaska in an almost personal way. I have spent the last 25 years in the Canadian North so I have some feeling for the material. This book feels authentic, the writer has a good ear, intuition and work ethic. I am going to buy his next book and see if this was just a happy accident. Well worthwhile!

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Don't buy if you are sensitive to animal cruelty

As I said in the title of my review, don't buy this book if you don't like animal cruelty. I was saddened to read very descriptive accounts of animals being trapped in leg traps and then struggling to get free. They may have been there for days before finally being killed. Sorry, but I just think it is cruel to catch animals in leg traps and snares.

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Mountain Man Dream Went Poof

I met James Campbell when he gave a presentation for the upcoming 2010 Appleton Book Festival. He will be one of the featured authors. When he spoke of The Final Frontiersman, I couldn't wait to order the book. You see, my fantasy has been to become a "mountain man" ever since, decades ago, I saw a movie by a similar title. The solitude, the nature, the purity, the chopping your own wood, peppered my dream. And even though I'm over the hill for such an adventure, it still lingers . . . or I should say, lingered until I read The Final Frontiersman. It reads like a well-written novel but is chillingly authentic and hard to put down. I became involved with the Korth family and the difficult struggle of maintaining that kind of life. I don't envy the lifestyle any longer - that envy has turned to admiration for the skill, discipline, strength, and endurance such a lifestyle demands. This is one book I will keep on my shelf, as I would with anything that deserves a place of honor, not only for the author, but more impressively for Heimo Korth.

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For trappers and hunters only

This book may be written in truth but it shows just how desperate these people are to make a living through cruel and barberic trapping and hunting practices. it's not really adventure in my book...it's just the way these people live their lives.

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Fascinating real-life study/account

If you have any interest in Alaska, you will like this book about a man who has chosen to live off the land in far reaches of Alaska.

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