Customer Reviews

Alaska: An American Colony

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The title of Stephen Haycox' book is slightly misleading, as the first half of the work details imperial Russia's "discovery," exploration and exploitation of Alaska before selling the massive territory to America in 1867 for $7.2 million (about two cents an acre). The book is a brief and interesting primer on Alaskan history from the middle of the 18th century to the dawn of the 21st. Haycox concentrates on sociocultural conflicts between natives and incomers; interminable discord between environmentalists and industrialists; and since statehood in 1959, strife between competing native, state, and federal sovereignty claims over land and resources. Particularly in the first half of the book, Haycox occasionally obsesses with minutia better left to a lengthier examination. Nonetheless, this is a good and well-written introduction to Alaskan history, including an ample bibliography for readers interested in learning more about America's "Last Frontier."

I read this book for my History of Alaska course and found it to be an excellent resource. Spanning from the arrival of the first people in Alaska to modern times, it provides great summaries of every major event in Alaskan history. The text is extremely full of people, places and happenings. If you are looking for an in-depth history of Alaska, this is it.

The book contains more of a history of the Russian occupation as opposed to Alaska's history as a territory and State. In that sense, the title is misleading. also, it is not very "readable" either. The writing style does not grab me and I have a hard time making it through the chapters.