Alaska Books

Prior to 1960, the availability of books regarding the Civil War was a fraction of what it is today. Extraordinary storytellers such as Shelby Foote were not yet on the scene and Hollywood had not yet glamorized the war in such glorious fashion with epic movies and 10-part mini-series'. What I'm getting at is, in 1960, when B. A. Botkin first released his book, A CIVIL WAR TREASURY OF TALES, LEGENDS AND FOLKLORE, he set a new standard in Civil War narration.

This 2006 edition is a reprinting of the original save for the addition of new artwork by Warren Chappell, who replaced Stephen Cushman as illustrator in the last reprinting. The stories are the same, so if you're looking for new material, you won't find it, but if you've never read Botkin's compilation of letters in this classic work, you don't want to miss it.

Botkin presents over 500 pages of letters, many originals, written by either those who took part directly in the events or who witnessed them firsthand. This is the Civil War without the sugar coating, and without the glamorizing. Some of what you read will make you laugh, some will turn your stomach. Your heart will be ripped apart as you only try to imagine the anguish of Sergeant Driscoll who shot a Confederate Officer in an ambush only to discover a few minutes later that it was in fact, his own son who had gone south before the war. You will feel the devotion of the two soldiers found sleeping next to Jackson's statue after the war, "just to sleep with the old man once more".

There are a few accounts of major battles, and a few profiles of individual leaders, but for the most part, this is a collection of stories about skirmishes, many of which you may never have heard of, and about individuals and their happenings during the war. In all, there are six chapters here, one for each year of the war, as well as a brief closing chapter regarding the aftermath. This is followed by an extraordinary collection of over 30 pages of notes, however, sadly, most of the books referenced here are long out of print and nearly impossible to locate.

Botkin, himself a professor of history, compiled over a dozen volumes of folklore. I believe this was his best compilation. An outstanding study guide with great merit for students, this is the Civil War as told by those who lived it.

Monty Rainey
www.juntosociety.com

You should read the Chronicles, too, is my vote!

As you can see from the other reviews, pilots love these yarns. But anybody with the slightest interest in Bush Alaska and its larger-than-life characters, climate, and country will love the Chronicles, too.

Besides being a professional pilot with many thousands of hours in his logbook, Clouddancer is a soulful raconteur and a born storyteller. The best of these stories are people stories, and Clouddancer understands people, which is the most important thing in a writer.

That said, you have to make some allowances.

For one thing, as a writer, Clouddancer makes a great Bush pilot. By which I mean, he brings much enthusiasm and passion to his writing, but not-so-much polish (although we're working on that -- I'm his unofficial coach/consultant/cheerleader). So don't expect the kind of finely honed prose you'd find in an Ernest Hemingway novel (although there are comparable quantities of liquor and sex).

Also, about half of these stories are extremely technical accounts of various situations that come up in flying, both Bush and air-carrier. They'll be nearly incomprehensible to non-pilots, and perhaps not particularly interesting for those not into flying, per se.

But these are quibbles. I give the Chronicles 5 stars because they are, on balance, really great Alaska flying books, of which there are far too few.

Stan Jones
One-time amateur Kotzebue Bush pilot, as well as author of the Nathan Active mystery series, which is set in a fictional Alaskan Eskimo village modeled on Kotzebue, where Clouddancer cut his Bush-flying teeth

I liked this book. The Alaska setting and the protagonist Jessie Arnold being a dog sled racer gave the story an unusual side. The characters were good. The story line was interesting. The ending was surprising. I'd recommend it to those who like mysteries set in the outdoors, like Nevada Barr's series about Anna Pidgeon.

This is an excellent, easy-to-use volume that coherently presents differences between Inuktitut, Yupik, Alutiiq, and Aleut languages. More than 600 pages long, the dictionary includes detailed entries for each word base, post-base and enclitic in multiple Arctic languages, together with the posited Proto-Eskimo-Aleut word root. There are also good English indexes and a grammatical overview.

This is the perfect book for our driving trip to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. Of all the guide books we purchased, this is the most helpful. Wouldn't go without it!

I've floated the Tat three times, twice without this guide, once with. It is incredibly helpful to find good camps, hikes, troublesome spots, etc. I would love to be able to buy it from Amazon.com (which I attempted to do), but as you can see, it says that it is currently unavailable. If you do a search for its publisher, Cloudburst Productions, you can find ordering information.

A delighted boater / reader, with no connections to the publisher

An easy to read book that gives an example of how a family can be turned upside-down when the father faces a midlife crisis. In this story, Karan manages to stand by her man even when he challenges her reason to do so. She faces many troubles and upheavals that I would not know how to endure. Through it all, she maintains her faith and convictions. She stays true to God, and He leads her through it. We all need to remember that He is with us through any suffering.
This is a tough topic, and it is presented in a light of abiding hope. The characters are likeable, and I even learned that pigs fly!

This is an EXCELLENT little book for those interested in the historical background of how the original Russian missionaries to Alaska had a vastly different philosophy on "education" as it related to the Alaska Native peoples, than their latter counterparts from the "Lower U.S. 48" led by Sheldon Jackson of the Presbyterian Church in combination with the United States government.

I've been a fan of SmokeeJo's for a long time. I love his segments on Napa's "North to Alaska." His recipes are not only delicious, but easy to understand and usually fairly simple to make. SmokeeJo ROCKS!

Author's name given as "Lonee" is incorrect. I have a copy of this book and the correct name is Lone E. Janson.