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The Floor of Heaven A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush Howard Blum 9780307461728 Books

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The Floor of Heaven A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush Howard Blum 9780307461728 Books

As a lifelong Alaskan, I grew up with Alaska and Klondike gold rush stories. This book really adds a new dimension to the conventional stories about the Klondike strike. Its really nice to know a lot more about the people involved, Carmak, Jim and Charlie. I found that fascinating. I'd never heard of Charlie Siringo. WOW - a REAL super hero if he did all as described. And the thorough coverage of Soapy Smith's career really filled out my understanding of him. Maybe I was a bit shallow in that much of my reading was when I was 10 to 18 and before I could appreciate some aspects of Jeff Smith's career. Overall I really enjoyed this book. However I have some criticisms: There was some POOR editing in a few places. I can't imagine an editor that allows an author to write: "more then" when it should be 'more THAN', not once but at least twice in the book ( a pet peeve of mine). In the last few chapters of the book, the language or sentence structure deteriorated somewhat. Apparently the author chose to switch to a style imitating actual conversation and vernacular of the time, starting numerous sentences with: "Course" when ' Of course' was meant. That's all fine but I found it a bit distracting and a noticeable, almost annoying change in style from the initial chapters. Again, overall I really like this book for the depth of information he provides on some of the Klondike period's most colorful characters, including references. Thank you Mr. Blum.


Tags : The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush [Howard Blum] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. It is the last decade of the 19th century. The Wild West has been tamed and its fierce, independent and often violent larger-than-life figures – gun-toting wanderers,Howard Blum,The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush,Crown,0307461726,Historical - General,United States - State & Local - West,Gold mines and mining;Yukon River Valley (Yukon and Alaska);History;19th century.,West (U.S.);History;1860-1890.,Yukon River Valley (Yukon and Alaska);Gold discoveries.,1860-1890,19th century,Alaska - Local History,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Historical,Biography & Autobiography,Biography & Autobiography Adventurers & Explorers,Biography And Autobiography,BiographyAutobiography,Canada - Post-Confederation (1867-),Gold discoveries,Gold mines and mining,HISTORY United States State & Local West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY),History,History - U.S.,History Canada Post-Confederation (1867-),History United States 19th Century,United States - 19th Century,United States - State & Local - Pacific Northwest,West (U.S.),Yukon River Valley (Yukon and Alaska)

The Floor of Heaven A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush Howard Blum 9780307461728 Books Reviews

I good study of the men involved in the Alaskan Gold rush, 1 to find it, one con his way to riches, and 1 to police it. A good combination to show many different aspects of the people involved. Good read, based on real history. Greed is king!
Blum weaves three stories together to paint a vivid picture of a fascinating period of North American life right at the turning point from wild West to settled America. I have read enough history of Alaska and the American West to appreciate the accuracy of his portrayal of three "types" of characters the cowboy turned lawman, the perpetual con artist and thug, and the ambitious young man who becomes less admirable the richer he gets. If someone wishes to learn about life in the West and in the Last Frontier, this is a good book to read.
To be honest, I haven't read the book! My whole perception comes from the giftee, who is my husband. His tasted run from Solzhenitsen to Le Carre so buying a book is a crap shoot. I won.
From the minute he picked this book up, he started sharing the stories of the three characters with me. He took it to work, read it on his lunch hour and into the night. The stories, passed from the book, to him and then to me were wonderful. I have visions of the con man selling his soap, the detective and more. Thank you, Mr. Blum, for your engaging book. Thank you for a great gift and based on his stories to me, my turn to read it now!
This true story that focused on 3 men who were involved in the Yukon gold rush was riveting. It was well written, fast paced and read like a novel rather than non fiction.
I am always fascinated by tales of the frozen north. The three men whose stories are related here were real, though, as the author admits, there are different versions of many of the stories, he has done considerable research to authenticate as much as possible.
Blum has the rare ability to write a history that reads like an adventure, using 3 men, one a cowboy turned PInkerton agent, another a clever, creative, rascal of a con man, and the third, an AOW Marine whose discovery started the Yukon gold rush. The 3 men's lively back stories are independent of each other, but their lives intersect in strange, exciting, and big adventures that change the course of the history of the 2 regions. I enjoyed this work so much that I've gifted other readers--both adult and HS readers. I've also enjoyed the audio version which is very well narrated.
A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush (2011) by Howard Blum; this read jumped onto my `favorites' list by virtue of its relentless adventure, its page-turning mysteries and nail-biting suspense, and its hilarious (provided you're not its victim) bunko-artistry--all such elements woven by a worthy storyteller into a tapestry dominated by three extraordinary men, whose lives intersected in a nearly lawless and often violent Alaskan wilderness throughout the 1890s. Adjacent to Alaska is an immense, unexplored Canadian Klondike landscape--in itself marked by frozen waterways, dark spruce forests, and formidable mountains steeped in glacial snow and ice; an' then, friend, there's that-thar gold

1) Charlie Siringo (1855-1928), the Texas-born, sharp-shooting cowpuncher turned Pinkerton detective, whose undercover exploits move our story forward--especially given the courage/chutzpah required of him in the face of personal loss and professional setback;
2) Jeff "Soapy" Smith (1860-1898) one of 19th century's most blatant American con-men; "Soapy's" mercurial nature and unsavory pathology fascinated and repulsed this reader--all the while reminding me of politicians of our age;
3) George Carmack (1860-1922) an orphan, then an AWOL U.S. Marine, whose gold prospecting--after a notable stint as Chilkoot mountain packer and Taglish Indian tribe member--resulted in his being credited (not entirely fairly) with precipitating the 1896 Yukon Gold Rush; its history, till now, had all but eluded me.

What added to the pleasure of my read was plotting the geographical points of Blum's story using Google Earth; having toured Alaska 19 years ago, only now--due to this book--do I have a grasp of its geography [plus the painful lengths that prospectors went to--pitfalls endured as a depression plagued the world--in order to unearth a precious metal] that was loathe to give up gold's secret hiding crannies, but that tens of thousands so recklessly coveted.

Criticisms, two-fold

1) As The Floor of Heaven reads so much like a novel, I couldn't help but suspect embellishment (but then so what, eh? the tale's enthralling)
2) Blum might've done better by reminding the reader what year a particular event or episode was taking place.

Recommended by Larry. And now I recommend it to you.
As a lifelong Alaskan, I grew up with Alaska and Klondike gold rush stories. This book really adds a new dimension to the conventional stories about the Klondike strike. Its really nice to know a lot more about the people involved, Carmak, Jim and Charlie. I found that fascinating. I'd never heard of Charlie Siringo. WOW - a REAL super hero if he did all as described. And the thorough coverage of Soapy Smith's career really filled out my understanding of him. Maybe I was a bit shallow in that much of my reading was when I was 10 to 18 and before I could appreciate some aspects of Jeff Smith's career. Overall I really enjoyed this book. However I have some criticisms There was some POOR editing in a few places. I can't imagine an editor that allows an author to write "more then" when it should be 'more THAN', not once but at least twice in the book ( a pet peeve of mine). In the last few chapters of the book, the language or sentence structure deteriorated somewhat. Apparently the author chose to switch to a style imitating actual conversation and vernacular of the time, starting numerous sentences with "Course" when ' Of course' was meant. That's all fine but I found it a bit distracting and a noticeable, almost annoying change in style from the initial chapters. Again, overall I really like this book for the depth of information he provides on some of the Klondike period's most colorful characters, including references. Thank you Mr. Blum.