We purchased this book after seeing the real Balto (courtesy of the art of taxidermy) at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Our quest in Northeast Ohio, where Balto enjoyed his senior years, was prompted by my seven year-old daughter's love-affair with the animated film about this dog, who navigated a lost sled team carrying life-saving medicine through Alaska in 1925. I hereby confess publicly that, after myself reading the book, which is aimed at the 9 year-old set, I cried, much as I had done 35 years before after reading "Lassie Come Home." This account, however, is much more compelling than "Lassie" or "Old Yeller," because it entirely factual (possibly excepting the subjective thoughts imputed to the protagonist).

The author did her homework researching this story about a sled dog who was just one of the pack facing poor odds against daunting weather and unrequiting expanses of blinding snow and ice. When the alpha dog loses the trail, and another refuses to lead, the team turns to Balto to bring them and their cargo safely to rest in Nome.

Perhaps Balto deserves an authentic, grown-up biography, but this one will serve in the meantime. It appears to be the definitive account.

This is an excellent book if you are interested in the Iditarod race in Alaska.The book helps young children understand the importance of perserverence and is a great introduction to history for the very young (6-8).A true story that inspires people to understand the bond between animals and people.

Buy this book for the outstanding photographs!!! I thouroughly enjoyed this book, and everytime I pick it up, I get this urge to fly to Alaska to see these magnificent creatures.

This book is beautiful; a work of art. Matthias Breiter may very well be the most knowledgeable naturalist on earth when it come to brown bears.

"Blessed John the Wonderworker" is a collection of various essays and testimonies of people concerning the life and miracles of St. John Maximovitch. Ever since my introduction to Orthodoxy I have found St. John very intriguing. Perhaps it is because he reposed in 1966, or becaue of his asceticism and miracles or perhaps because his incorrupt relics lie only about an hour from my house. In any case I found this book to be both devotional and informative. Great reading for all Orthodox Christians or for anyone interested in learning about the lives of truly holy people.

This examination of the life and miracles of St. John Maximotvich is heartening reading not only for Orthodox Christians, not only for Californians who are blessed to have his relics, not only for North Americans who, unlike other Orthodox Churches in their "western captivity", have been blessed with their own saints, but for anyone who has a compassionate heart. This well written work is the clearest reading of the life of this remarkable man who had the gift of doing "ordinary things in an extraordinary way." Fr. Seraphim's account is neither sentimental nor disengaged, and the best I have read about this saint's life.

I was at the Anchorage International Airport on my way back from Kotzebue, Alaska and I saw this book. The cover caught my eye; the contents were impressive. This book gives a lot of useful hints and details for building log homes. I liked it so much I bought one and sent a friend a copy. Thanks for a well-written book!

I have read at least a dozen of the latest log cabin building books. Unfortunately, most of them do not go into enough detail on the scribe-fit building technique. This one, however, is the first that really does. This book includes many USEFUL pictures and doesn't ramble on about unimportant subjects. This book is focused, to-the-point, and in the amount of detail that is necessary. As a result, this is a good companion to any other log cabin building books that you may already have, since it fills in the missing details that the other books seem to overlook. I definitely recommend it.

This book is obviously written for women who have had their feelings hurt or were deserted by men whom they wish they never laid eyes upon. That said, who can blame them! As a feminist I'm well aware of the way in which affluent women (usually white) have dominated most of the discussion regarding the paucity of marriage-worthy males; here we get not theory but true-to-life examples that every woman can relate to (even less uptight men will find this book funny). I have to admit I'd be really mad if three guys got together to write a book like this about women, but I don't think we have to worry...guys are to busy thinking about themselves to read such a book, never mind write one.

I laughed til I cried (or was it - I cried til I laughed?!) I lived the single life in Alaska for 16 years and can attest that EVERYTHING in this book is absolutely totally true. Yes, it's all in fun, but these ladies really are not joking. I could add my huntin', fishin', goodlookin' boyfriend who insisted on wearing no pants except for sweatpants. To work, nice restaurants, funerals, everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. Or my "Alaskan cowboy" who had a good job, nice car, dated only very successful career woman, and lived in a shack. A real SHACK! Or the redneck oil engineer making $80,000 who refused to pay any taxes because as an Alaskan he was "sovereign". (Huh?) He sued the IRS - I said HE sued THEM - they had a field day. Or the nice, polite man I had dated 4 times until the day I happened to get behind him in traffic and saw his bumper sticker, "Follow too close & I'll flip a booger on your windshield". Alaska man magazine, Alaskan men on the Oprah show? Oh Pahleeze! Ladies, ladies, please save yourself from heartbreak, disappointment, and your life savings. Don't go to Alaska expecting to find a husband. This book tells the sad, myth shattering, and very funny truth of the "Great Alaskan Man".

Tim Rawson has written an engaging and beautifully researched book exploring the saga of wolf control in Denali National Park. He also documents this controversial issue outside that park, both in Alaska and throughout the country. It is an unthinking oversight, however, that the publisher neglected--either in the subtitle or in the Library of congress catalog info--to mention the fascinating character who resides in these pages: Adolph Murie. This lesser known brother of Olaus Murie was largely responsible for our modern day understanding that wolves are an essential part of the ecosystem. Pre Adolph Murie it was popular to think of wolves as vermin in need of extermination. Adolph's life work, as it unfolds in Rawson's pages, turns this scholarly history into compelling biography. Even if you haven't read Barry Lopez' OF WOLVES AND MEN (or if you have any interest in wolves in general), CHANGING TRACKS is a true classic.

Alaska residents and students of national parks issues will find Changing Tracks involving: it details the events which shaped both Mt. McKinley Park and the national policy on dealing with predators in national parks in general, outlining the decisions and actions which have influenced park service policies throughout the country. A variety of experiences, from game managers to conservationists, are presented in this scholarly, involving survey.

The author does an excellent job presenting how Tlingit are attempting to celebrate, embrace and reestablish their cultural ways in this honor book for the 2000 Carter G. Woodson Elementary Division Award, National Council for Social Studies. The author describes how the Russians and then the United States attempted to erradicate the culture of the established Tlingit and how children are encouraged to go to week-long camps to learn about Tlingit art, storytelling, language, and customs. It would be important for children to understand why an author would write "some Tlingit must have a hard time looking at the American flag." Discussion will abound in relation to this book. Photos are interesting and provide helpful information. Maps are included. Good for classroom, school, and public libraries.

I feel this book is a very good representation of the Tlinget lifestyle. Both my daughters have gone to the Islands in Southeastern Alaska to teach Bible School to the Tlinget Children and do work projects. Both my daughters enjoyed learning about the Tlinget culture and this book will teach children who are unable to visit Southeast Alaska about this special culture. The pictures in this book from Kake were taken when my one daughter was there and she is the person doing the face painting on page 12. My daughter fell in love with the children of Kake who were starving for attention. I thought sure when she arrived home she would have Nicki in your suitcase. He is the little boy in the purple shirt on the cover of the book.

As an avid diver in the Puget Sound, I have found this book to be very useful. It features great photos to help me identify the fishes that I encounter while underwater. The format is easy to use because it is geared toward the underwater naturalist. I recommend it to all my diver friends.

As a freediver along the coast north and south from San Francisco, I frequently refer to this book for reference of the fish I find in the kelp beds. I am able to find every fish I saw in the water in this book. The color photos are great for that purpose. Other books in my collection are sometime visually vague due to the lack of photographic images (paintings and/or black & white sketches). In ths book the text along with the pictures are also informational: distinctive features, description, abundance & distribution, habitat & behavior, reaction to divers.

Imagine a world where humankind is considered part of the environment and our elected leaders consider the needs of the commons when making decisions. Imagine a world where neither unbridled communism or capitalism reign. This is the world described in Wally Hickel's new book, "Crisis in the Commons: The Alaska Solution."
If you haven't read this book yet, you should. It is a well-written lesson for every citizen of the planet. Even if you don't agree with all of his ideas, Wally Hickel's book will make you think about how we can co-exist with nature and how our potential as residents and stewards of the planet is limited only by our imagination.
The story he tells is a lesson in Alaska's battle for statehood and the world's struggle to find balance between bottom-line exploitation and lock-it-up environmentalism.
It is a story every student should read. Our youth need to understand the battles that were fought by some of Alaska's greatest leaders to win statehood. They need to learn about how the federal government has broken its promises to the people of Alaska. They need to read about how outside commercial interests have exploited Alaska's resources at the expense of Alaska's citizens and the environment. They need to learn about how the environmental movement is trying to lock up Alaska and take humans out of nature's equation.
Everyone should listen to his message of entitlement. He explains with refreshing clarity how the creation of Alaska's Permanent Fund has fostered an atmosphere of doubt, greed, and narrow-sightedness. And his theory that the Permanent Fund has stolen Alaska's pioneering spirit is worthy of consideration. As Alaska faces its current fiscal crisis, it would do every Alaskan good to understand that the Permanent Fund was established as a "rainy day account" and not as a giant trust fund.
Our local, state, and federal leaders would serve us well to read this book, debate its ideas and concepts, and consider the arguments. Perhaps then they would move beyond the rancor of political jousting and act in the best interests of Alaska, the nation and the world.
Wally Hickel's life has been one of challenges, victories, defeats, vision, leadership, and controversy. This book is the culmination of an amazing life. It brings into focus an idea that has been nurtured over 50 years - an idea from a man respected around the globe for his vision and straight forward manner.
"Crisis in the Commons: The Alaska Solution" is a textbook - a textbook for the present and the future.

Don Stolworthy
Juneau, Alaska

Walter J. Hickel's "Crisis in the Commons" is must reading for anyone interested in land use patterns and environmental issues. Hickel's analysis is truly a view from the top as he has shaped land use policy both as an advocate for Alaska statehood,as governor of Alaska, and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior under Richard Nixon.

Hickel takes the reader through his trials in negotiating a state land grant for Alaska in the 1958 statehood bill. We then move to the builidng of the trans-Alaska pipeline and later examine the issue of oil drilling in the Santa Barbara channel when Hickel was Secretary of the Interior. Hickel provides insightful analysis into various crises in the Nixon administration, including an account of his own firing.

The book is also a view from the top in its discussion of a new form of land ownership that has emerged in America's most northern state. Hickel calls this the "owner state." In Alaska the state, rather than the federal government or private individuals, owns a vast portion of land, including the Prudhoe Bay Oil field. Unlike earlier American states, Alaska's goal is not to place such land in private hands, but to develop it for the benefit of all the people of Alaska.

All readers may not agree with every policy that Hickel developed to "manage" the owner state. But there is no question that the "owner state" points to a new concept and vision of the public lands.

Finally the personality of Hickel, a fascinating state and national figure, comes through with vibrance in this volume. The reader will truly come to know Walter Hickel by reading "Crisis in the Commons."

Buying this book prior to my Alaska cruise proved to be well worth the investment. Per Ludmer's suggestion, we rented a car in Skagway and drove to Carcross, Yukon, Canada. What a wonderful outing away from the ship and for less then 25% the cost of us all taking the train. Get more tips from Ludmer by reading this book.

Concise, easy-to-read information fills every page of this bestseller. Unlike most cruise guidebooks, Cruising Alaska puts the emphasis on hard facts - not pretty pictures. Every detail is here, including stateroom size, passenger-crew ratio, dining options, current cruising routes, ship decor, onboard facilities and more. A candid analysis of the routes is given for every ship in Alaska this season, with details on the highlights, as well as what is missed. Maps, index.