James J. Hill: A Great Life in Brief, by Stewart Holbrook

James J. Hill (158 pages), the “Empire Builder,” (1838-1916) was a Canadian-American railroad executive with the Great Northern Railway, responsible for building railways across the northern US. Part visionary, part robber baron, part buccaneer, Stewart Holbrook brings his story to life, in brief, as well as the lives of the other movers and shakers in…

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Holy Old Mackinaw, by Stewart Holbrook

Holy Old Mackinaw (256 pages) is the rough and lusty story of the American lumberjack at work and at play, from Maine to Oregon. In these modern days timber is harvested by cigarette-smoking married men, whose children go to school in buses, but for nearly three hundred years the logger was a real pioneer who ranged…

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North to the Future, by Dermot Cole

Alaska became a state in 1959 after nearly a century of federal rule and domination by powerful mining, timber, and canned-salmon interests. At last the people of Alaska would direct their own destiny. But would they? North to the Future (224 pages) documents the first fifty years, as Alaska’s fate continued to be influenced by…

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