Alaska Saga of a Bold Land

A Conversation with Walter R. Borneman How did you come to write a history of Alaska, especially since you live in Colorado? My academic training was as a Western historian and my passion has always been for the out-of-doors. What better place to combine the two than Alaska? Its history is filled with great exploration and mountaineering stories, mining rushes, amazing if not impossible railroads, and some rather epic conservation versus development battles. How does this book differ from other books on Alaska? Everyone always asks me about James Michener's novel, Alaska. I tell them that the whole sweep of the true story is just as entertaining and frequently more profound than Michener's fiction. This is the first narrative history of Alaska from earliest inhabitants to contemporary challenges. It includes the frequently overlooked period of Alaska history between the world wars and a balanced perspective on conservation versus natural resource development issues right up to the current debate over drilling in ANWR. How much time have you spent in Alaska? I have made 10 trips to Alaska over the last eight years. Alaska is a big state and I certainly haven't been everywhere, but among my favorite experiences were following the routes to the Klondike by backpacking the length of the Chilkoot Trail and making a two-week crossing of the Brooks Range. I also will always remember watching my son pull in his first halibut off Kodiak Island. [read more]