Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000-Mile Journey Around Wild Alaska, the Last Great American Frontier [B1479]

2018 HCDJ in excellent condition. From the acclaimed, bestselling author of Turn Right at Machu Picchu, a fascinating, wild, and wonder-filled journey into Alaska, America's last frontier In 1899, railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman organized a most unusual summer voyage to the wilds of Alaska: He converted a steamship into a luxury 'floating university', populated by some of America's best and brightest scientists and writers, including the anti-capitalist eco-prophet John Muir. Those aboard encountered a land of immeasurable beauty and impending environmental calamity. More than a hundred years later, Alaska is still America's most sublime wilderness, both the lure that draws one million tourists annually on Inside Passage cruises and as a natural resources larder waiting to be raided. As ever, it remains a magnet for weirdos and dreamers. Armed with Dramamine and an industrial-strength mosquito net, Mark Adams sets out to retrace the 1899 expedition. Traveling town to town by water, Adams ventures three thousand miles north through Wrangell, Juneau, and Glacier Bay, then continues west into the colder and stranger regions of the Aleutians and the Arctic Circle. Along the way, he encounters dozens of unusual characters (and a couple of very hungry bears) and investigates how lessons learned in 1899 might relate to Alaska's current struggles in adapting to the pressures of a changing climate and world.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Intelligently written with interesting facts, pearls and quotes bridging the historic expedition of 1899 'Elder' and the author's own retracing of the entire route from Bellingham along all of coastal Alaska to beyond Nome. I read this in preparation for an Alaskan cruise via the Inside Passage and hugging the coast to Glacier Bay and finally to Anchorage. This history of the native tribes, origins of all these coastal cities and how the changing glaciers continue to shape Alaska really have given me such a rich understanding and appreciation for when I personally visit them."; "As an Alaskan , I really enjoyed this book about my state! The writing is engaging and intelligent, and he walks the fine line of writing truthfully about Alaska as well as marveling in its wonders."; "Really well written book that provides a bit of history, a bit of biography, and a bit of modern day adventure in Alaska. Climate change is unfortunately very real even if the morons in charge don't believe so."; "Tip of the Iceberg is one of the better travelogues I've read in recent years. It vibrantly conveys Alaska's sights and describes Adams' own encounters there with insight and humor. I highly recommend the book, especially for armchair travelers and those interested in the history and nature of this unique land."