Pierre Berton Books

In 1897 a grimy steamer docked in Seattle and set into epic motion the incredible succession of events that Pierre Berton's exhilarating The Klondike Fever chronicles in all its splendid and astonishing folly. For the steamer Portland bore two tons of pure Klondike gold. And immediately, the stampede north to Alaska began. Easily as many as 100,000 adventurers, dreamers, and would-be miners from all over the world struck out for the remote, isolated gold fields in the Klondike Valley, most of them in total ignorance of the long, harsh Alaskan winters and the territory's indomitable terrain. Less than a third of that number would complete the enormously arduous mountain journey to their destination. Some would strike gold. Berton's story belongs less to the few who would make their fortunes than to the many swept up in the gold mania, to often unfortunate effects and tragic ends. It is a story of cold skies and avalanches, of con men and gamblers and dance hall girls, of sunken ships, of suicides, of dead horses and desperate men, of grizzly old miners and millionaires, of the land — its exploitation and revenge. It is a story of the human capacity to dream, and to endure.

The action is placed within the context both of the Battle of Arras, of which this attack was part, and as a milestone in the development of Canada as a nation.

With the building of the railroad and the settlement of the plains, the North West was opening up. The Klondike stampede was a wild interlude in the epic story of western development, and here are its dramatic tales of hardship, heroism, and villainy. We meet Soapy Smith, dictator of Skagway; Swiftwater Bill Gates, who bathed in champagne; Silent Sam Bonnifield, who lost and won back a hotel in a poker game; and Roddy Connors, who danced away a fortune at a dollar a dance. We meet dance-hall queens, paupers turned millionaires, missionaries and entrepreneurs, and legendary Mounties such as Sam Steele, the Lion of the Yukon.Pierre Berton's riveting account reveals to us the spectacle of the Chilkoot Pass, and the terrors of lesser-known trails through the swamps of British Columbia, across the glaciers of souther Alaska, and up the icy streams of the Mackenzie Mountains. It contrasts the lawless frontier life on the American side of the border to the relative safety of Dawson City. Winner of the Governor General's award for non-fiction, Klondike is authentic history and grand entertainment, and a must-read for anyone interested in the Canadian frontier.

Capturing the full grandeur and sweep of the last great gold rush, Berton reveals tales of unbelievable hardship, heroism, and villainy, with an extraordinary cast of characters. Maps throughout and fully indexed.

Set in 1871, this narrative explores the audacious decision of a young nation to construct the world's longest railroad across largely uncharted territory. This ambitious undertaking not only transforms the lives of all Canadians but also reshapes the country's landscape and future. The story highlights themes of determination, national identity, and the impact of infrastructure on society.

Niagara Falls. Hardcover.

Set against the backdrop of the Klondike Gold Rush, this narrative combines rich historical detail with captivating storytelling. Pierre Berton, after twelve years of research in Dawson City, crafts a dramatic and coherent account that captures the epic scale and vibrant chaos of the gold rush. His unique perspective distills the myriad anecdotes into a singular, engaging tale that highlights both the folly and excitement of this monumental event in history, presenting a story that has never before been told in such a compelling manner.

"It is interesting to watch how the expressions change as you progress through the book, from optimistic in the beginning, to almost hopeless by the end... The pictures alone will offer hours of viewing."-- CM Magazine "The story of the stampede is told well but shown even better."-- HistoryNet.com This classic book is a truly great photographic essay of an historic event that made millionaires of an anonymous few but crushed thousands more in a hostile climate and unforgiving terrain anticipated by none. We are nearing the 125th anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush and no one has told the story as vividly as Yukon-born Pierre Berton. Canada's leading popular historian compiled over 200 rare period images from the more than 10,000 images in public archives and private collections. Depicting every aspect of what Berton called "one of the strangest mass movements in history," many of the compelling images were first published in this book. The Klondike Quest brings to life the panoramic drama of the great stampede for gold as seen by the ordinary gold-seeker. The photographs are beautifully reproduced and informatively and colorfully captioned. "One million people, it is said, laid plans to go to the Klondike. One hundred thousand actually set off. And so the Klondike saga is a chronicle of humanity in the mass... For the next eighteen months, the Yukon interior plateau became a human anthill." As a true story of real men looking for a golden phantom, it's a tale that can't be beat.