james Michener's second book on the Alaska Gold Rush

I admit I read only one of his books. He padded them with so much research that it was overkill. I did see a few of the movies.

But the book I did read was called "Journey" and it was good at 323 pages. His publisher told him that Alaska was too long. So he cut this part out but it was too good to throw away.

He doesn't bog down in side issues and sticks to telling the story of five British aristocrats and an Irish servant to one of them. As a flag waving exercise of British amateur explorers they want to travel an all Canadian (British) route.

They run into brutal conditions doing so but then I guess any way except by coastal steamer was rough.

One interesting thing was they ran into a party with a refined well dressed woman also enroute on a river. Michener said she was based on an actual person from California. I now wonder if she was based on the Belinda character from Klondike.









I don't know everything. Neither do you.