thats to bad they have wound the series down. my Brothers really like this series. my personal favorite would have to be number four, but still, they are all great. My self and My brothers aren't the only ones in my family who like them though. My mother and my Grandmother do. I would suggest it for anyone wanting a good book to engross yourself in for a few nights. great reading.

I am sorry this is the last book of this series. I have really enjoyed all of the stories. It seems that as soon as the heroes reach some sort of settling down stage, the authors end the books. I would like to see some more stories about Zach Cobb and his brothers. I hope Mr. Walker will reconsider and write some more.

The original 1986 publication is now available in a popular-priced, handy paperback edition. Many movie fans are familiar with the Columbia comedy shorts of The Three Stooges, but many of Hollywood's most popular comedians (Buster Keaton, Charley Chase, Andy Clyde, Harry Langdon, etc.) also appeared in Columbia's two-reel comedies. The studio's quarter-century of short-subject production is accurately and completely chronicled by the authors. Their scholarship is exemplary, especially in the filmographies. The writing is intelligent and absorbing, and there are dozens of rare photographs. The book can be enjoyed and consulted any number of times.

In her several essays on the landscapes through which Carolyn Servid has traveled, from India to Alaska, she lets us understand her secret longing, the drive of her restlessness and her seeking for something outside herself. She also takes us into the journey with memories and descriptions that are powerful and simple. She describes India so you feel the heat and hear the music. She gives us Alaska as close to the way it is, which is impossible to capture completely, but Carolyn comes as close as anyone I know.

The economy in Southeast Alaska depended for a long time on timber harvest as one of its foundations. That is changing and has changed. In her chapter "Thoughts on Trees: Who Could Live Without This Grace?" Carolyn takes us on a very different journey than one might expect. This is no purely "greenie" diatribe but a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation about value, comunity, value-added, nature and humanity in its intricate struggle for survival and our constant battle to find and place meaning where it can do either harm or much good.

It is clear throughout this book that Carolyn loves this land and its people and its problems. Falling in love with the landscape over and over again, she reminds us how fragile we are, how implacable are all of nature's forces, and how, if we listen, we can learn.

This is on my "I recommend this book to everyone I know" list. It is also a very good introduction to life in Southeast Alaska.

Although the condition of trails change from year to year this guide does a good job preparing hikers for the trail ahead. I worked on a Forest Service Trail crew in Sitka for three years and had the opportunity to hike many of these trails for either work or pleasure. I can say with certainty that this guide is second only to first hand knowledge of the trail. The trails covered range from the easy 15 minute jaunts around town to trails that 5 or 10 people may hike in a year.

Al Brookman Sr. does an excellent job of recalling his past in vivid detail. Each reader will experience his eccentric lifestyle as a commercial fisherman in Alaska along with his many seasonal jobs in the Alaskan wilderness. Readers who enjoy true-life adventure stories will delight in Brookman's hunting adventures, "great fish" stories and WWII recollections. If you have ever spoken to an elderly person about their life and times, and enjoyed the conversation, this book is for you. Though Brookman may repeat stories is irrelevant, each recount is as enjoyable as the first. A short, easy to understand and charming text you could read with a grandparent or grandchild and enjoy twice as much.

Sitka is not typical of Louis L'Amour's work. He takes us from Louisiana to San Francisco to Alaska to Russia and back to Alaska in a relatively short book. In doing all this traveling with his character, Jean Labarge, we do not get the typical Louis L'Amour descriptions. We do not get a good description of Sitka, Alaska or its inhabitants. We do not even get a good adventure. When Labarge's warehouse with his very valuable wheat is set ablaze by the bad guys, he does not even go after them. Instead, he sends his ship to Alaska on schedule while he heads overland, on a miraculously fast journey, to Oregon where a sufficient quantity of wheat just happens to be available. In my opinion, the whole story is too far-fetched with too many scenes and not enough of the kind of action and adventure Mr. L'Amour has always delivered.

Sitka is a story of a man who has lived in wild places his entire life, and is pulled to Alaska for the danger, fur, and untraveled land. This man is the mountain man Jean LaBarge. To help a political friend trying to secure Alaska, and a young woman who is a niece of the Czar, Jean plays cat and mouse in coastal Alaskan waters with a Russian naval officer intent on destroying him,then journey's through wild parts of Russia on his way to St. Petersburg, where a meeting is arranged with the Czar over selling Alaska to the U.S. Jean then travels back to Alaska, where he continues to fight for this untamed land. I think this book would have been better if Jean had been fighting more for Alaska, and less for a woman.

L'Amour is a master. This book was written in 1957. Authors 45 years ago had a lot more scruples than they do today. Even knowing that, this is a great adventure book. The characters are well written. The descriptions of the scenarios is great.

The basic plot is well worn, but it occurs in Alaska so that adds a new twist to the story.

The time is when Alaska was still owned by the Russians. The Czars were still in power. Alaska was a long way from Moscow and governed by the military who rarely received instruction from Moscow.

It's the story of an orphan that makes his way in the world based on his own skills and intelligence. He has a dream of going to Alaska. He never forgets the dream. On the way, he meets up with several extraordinary people that help him along the way. During his journey, he is involved in much of the history of the exploration of the west. This is a history lesson as well as an adventure.

The pages turn very quickly. It is easy to put down and pick up without missing any of the story. It's a perfect book for vacation or travel reading.