Kindle Price: $2.99

Save $17.00 (85%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Walter R. Borneman
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land Kindle Edition

by Walter R. Borneman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 117 ratings
See all formats and editions

The history of Alaska is filled with stories of new land and new riches -- and ever present are new people with competing views over how the valuable resources should be used: Russians exploiting a fur empire; explorers checking rival advances; prospectors stampeding to the clarion call of "Gold!"; soldiers battling out a decisive chapter in world war; oil wildcatters looking for a different kind of mineral wealth; and always at the core of these disputes is the question of how the land is to be used and by whom.

While some want Alaska to remain static, others are in the vanguard of change. Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land shows that there are no easy answers on either side and that Alaska will always be crossing the next frontier.

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    644 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    HarperCollins e-books
  5. Publication date
    October 13, 2009
  6. File size
    2627 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The last American frontier, Alaska packs into 615,230 square miles the American saga of explorers and hunters, followed first by miners and soldiers, then homesteaders and tourists making their way into the wilderness. Borneman, a historian and lawyer who has produced multimedia programs for National Geographic, is at his best when he writes about these heroes who battled treacherous weather and terrain. At the same time, he stages their adventures against the backdrop of military and political events. Though some newspapers derided Lincoln's secretary of state, William Seward, for purchasing the territory as a strategic outpost in 1867, his decision proved prescient during WWII, when Alaska proved useful in patrolling the northern Pacific, and especially during the Cold War, when it allowed us to keep watch over communist countries in Asia. Until it obtained statehood in 1959, however, Alaska remained a colonial possession where the U.S. government controlled access to natural resources on the land, in the water and under the surface. Even now, 41% of the state belongs to national reserves; and the controversies continue among conservationists, fisheries, and timber and oil companies. The chapters on Alaska's environment demonstrate the balance of textbook history and storytelling that makes this informative book so readable. On occasion, Borneman becomes mired in local history, such as the quarrel over the state capital, when he might have instead devoted these pages to the Natives, whom he leaves hovering in the background until they suddenly leap forward as activists in the 1960s. He might also have included illustrations. Mirroring the Alaskan landscape, the book's scale and blocks of unbroken text can be daunting. 10 maps.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Walter R. Borneman is the author of Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land, 1812: The War That Forged a Nation, and several books on the history of the western United States. He lives in Colorado.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000OI0E0O
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 13, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2627 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 644 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 117 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Walter R. Borneman

Walter R. Borneman

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Walter R. Borneman writes about American military and political history. His most recent book, Brothers Down: Pearl Harbor and the Fate of the Many Brothers Aboard the USS Arizona, was published in May 2019 by Little, Brown. The Pearl Harbor story has never been told through the eyes of the seventy-eight brothers—members of the same families—serving together aboard the battleship that fateful day.

Borneman won the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize in Naval Literature for The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King--The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea (Little, Brown, 2012). A national bestseller, The Admirals tells the story of the only four men in American history to achieve the rank of fleet admiral. Together they transformed the American navy with aircraft carriers and submarines and won World War II.

Borneman's other titles include MacArthur at War: World War II in the Pacific (Little, Brown, 2016), a finalist for the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History; American Spring: Lexington, Concord, and the Road to Revolution (Little, Brown, 2014); Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America (Random House, 2008), which won the Tennessee History Book Award and the Colorado Book Award for Biography; and 1812: The War That Forged a Nation (HarperCollins, 2004).

His commentary has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and on FoxNews.com. He lives in Colorado and has spent many days climbing its mountains.

QUOTE: My overriding goal in writing history has been to get the facts straight and then present them in a readable fashion. I am convinced that knowing history is not just about appreciating the past, but also about understanding the present and planning for the future.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
117 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

J. Zartman
5.0 out of 5 stars engaging history
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2013
Verified Purchase
It took me a long time to read this book. I own a hardback copy, and with 608 pages it lacks the portability of my Kindle, so I often left it at home when my reading time would be elsewhere. This didn't create a problem with continuity, however, as Walter Borneman organized the book into nine mini-books, making it easy to read in stages. Borneman also tells the saga with skill and an engaging writing style, so the book is never boring. The end notes, bibliography and index take up an impressive 67 pages to help those who want to check up on his references or read more on their own. My only complaint is that it could use better maps. I particularly enjoyed the opening chapter in which he discusses the mind boggling mountain ranges and other geographical features of Alaska, and someday I hope to see some of what I've read about.
10 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
J. Green
4.0 out of 5 stars Accidentally bought it, but kept it on purpose
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2007
Verified Purchase
Walter R. Borneman tells the interesting social and political history of Alaska, from the Native peoples through the Russian occupation and the sale to the United States down to the present day. The last 100 years or so is covered in greater detail than much of the time prior, but this is still the most comprehensive book about Alaska that I could find. Given the large size of Alaska there is a lot of ground covered in this book from mountaineering and those who surveyed and climbed the peaks to the gold rush and oil boom to the exploitation of sea otters and salmon and the overall exploration of the land. I have had an interest in learning more about Alaska for about a year now, and all I could find in my local library was Michener's immense and sometimes dense "Alaska," which is, of course, historical fiction. It was helpful and covered in detail what might be called the "eras" of Alaska's history, but the fact that it was fiction made it confusing when trying to learn the real history. Nonetheless, it provided a good basis and context. But Borneman's great book gives the real history and names without lumping so much history together, and it does so in a very readable and entertaining way. I had checked out this book from the library but accidentally ordered it from Amazon through "one-click" ordering. Amazon graciously offered to take it back, but I've enjoyed the book so much that it was an easy decision to keep it. It's helped me to gain a much better understanding of the area (but if you're especially familiar with the Juneau area and don't mind sharing your knowledge, please send me an e-mail).
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Mark Mangicaro
5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Detail Without Unnecessary Minutiae
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2013
Verified Purchase
Let's face it; Alaska is a big state in which quite a lot has happened over the centuries. If you are looking to learn a little about many aspects of Alaska's history: political, cultural, geographic, environmental, and economic, then this is a great read. Keep in mind that due to Alaska's enormous size, even learning a little about everything means you will be consuming several hundred pages. Yet, with Borneman's writing, you never feel like you're climbing a Mt. McKinley of words.

The book is organized chronologically and each time I began to wonder how things are today, Borneman provided a modern reference. I very much enjoyed that as it really helps put things in perspective. The book was published in 2003, so there is no mention of Sarah Palin, the bridge-to-nowhere, or the final turns in Ted Stevens's life. However, Borneman does devote a generous amount of text to ANWR (and ANILCA), which greatly improved my understanding of the controversy.

About halfway through the book I decided to search the Internet for a relatively simple map of Alaska that I could keep open in another window while reading. If you choose to read this excellent book, and are unfamiliar with Alaska's geography (as I was before reading Alaska) I suggest doing that from the beginning. That should keep you from confusing Ketchikan with Kotzebue.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
JJS
5.0 out of 5 stars Readable history of Alaska's many rushes
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2019
Verified Purchase
I was traveling to Alaska this summer and wanted to understand it better. This book was readable, well organized, with great stories and big overviews too. I am not an expert in Alaska so I wouldn't know if things were left out, but it took me from zero to a solid sense of Alaska's history and issues.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
MARK COZAD
3.0 out of 5 stars Small error on battle of Attu
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2023
Verified Purchase
States battle of Attu most costly percentage wise, per WW2 history museum in New Orleans.
Dad was at Peleliu - The Battle of Peleliu resulted in the highest casualty rate of any amphibious assault in American military history: Of the approximately 28,000 Marines and infantry troops involved, a full 40 percent of the Marines and soldiers that fought for the island died or were wounded, for a total of some 9,800 men (1,800 killed in action and 8,000 wounded).
WW2 history museum in New Orleans doesn't always get it right.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Brian D. Rubendall
4.0 out of 5 stars An Exhaustive History
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2003
Walter R. Borneman's "Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land" delivers exactly what it promises to deliver from its subtitle. The book is a complete history of the 49th State, from prehistoric times until the dawn of the 21st Century. Checking in at 540 pages of narrative, it is as big and daunting as Alaska itself. Though the book could have used more illustrations and perhaps some photographs to assist the reader, Borneman is a good enough storyteller to keep things interesting.
The story begins with a discussion of the migration of native tribes from Siberia during the last ice age. Borneman then flashes forward to Vitus Bering and the first Russian explorations and colonization of the territory. This is then followed by "Seward's Folly," the American purchase of Alaska, which, surprisingly, as Borneman demonstrates was much more widely supported than many historical accounts would indicate. At two cents an acres, it was certainly one of the great bargains of the 19th Century.
Moving into the 20th Century, the story focuses on the Alaskan Gold Rushes and American settlement, the Japanese invasion during World War II, the 1964 earthquake, and finally the production of oil and the resulting envioronmental controversies. Borneman's scope is expansive, and any reader of his book will come away with a very complete knowledge of the history of what remains the last American frontier.
Overall, a comprehensive and well-written account that will be particularly appreciated by history buffs.
37 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report