The Best Of Robert Service: Illustrated Edition [Hardcover]

Robert W. Service (Author), Clarke Kinsey (Photographer), Clarence Kinsey (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 1990

A deluxe edition of the works of Service, with stunning period photographs of the Yukon territory he immortalized through his incomparable verses. Photos are from the famed Kinsey collection, taken in the 1890s during the height of the Klondike gold rush.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Service was born in England in 1874. After spending his childhood in Scotland he came to Canada and there commenced the life of wandering and adventure which has given birth to songs, rhymes, ballads and poems that have spread over the whole world.
His vagabond career, bounded by Alaska and Turkey, by England and Mexico, has been such a diversity of odd jobs in so many places that an actual chronicle of it is well nigh impossible.
Mr. Service, who escaped to America from the German invasion of France, later returned to that country where he spent the remainder of his days.
In his poetry, however, he still lives as a vagabond in the hearts of his many readers. He has caught the spirit of wanderlust latent in every one of us and his verse will live on forever.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Running Press; Deluxe edition (June 5, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894718134
• ISBN-13: 978-0894718137
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,073,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Poetry, July 10, 2000

By 

Fred Camfield (Vicksburg, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best of Robert Service (Paperback)

Robert Service was the common man's poet. Even if you don't normally read poetry, you will find some that are enjoyable. He is best known for his poems about the Yukon such as "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" ("A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malemute saloon..."), but the collection contains much more. It covers the poet's Yukon period, but also World War I and Bohemian Paris. Robert Service's poems ranged from dark humor such as "The Cremation of Sam McGee," to sad and sentimental poems such as "Muguet." Some of his poems addressed particular topics such as taxes ("Resentment"), dieting ("The Battle of the Bulge"), etc. His collected poems are recommended for any age group. I first became acquainted with his poetry when I was a child and someone read one to me.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant volume and a must-have for poetry fans!, July 6, 2001

By 

Michael R. Schneider (Garden Grove, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best Of Robert Service: Illustrated Edition (Hardcover)

I seriously doubt that anybody out there who has passed at least the eighth grade has not heard, at least once in his or her life, "The Cremation of Sam McGee." That poem enough warrants the purchase of a Robert W. Service book, as any home library should not be without that classic poem of North American culture.

This book, however, has a lot more to offer than solely the "most memorized poem" of the English language.

Though it does not state it in the information about this volume, this book contains the complete poems of "The Spell of the Yukon" and "Ballads of a Cheechako." Either of these volumes (in hardback) alone will cost about thirteen dollars (at least at your local bookstore), but this hardbound edition offers much more.

The Kinsey photographs which help fill these pages give us all a more brilliant picture of life in the Yukon gold rush era, and help paint a canvas along with the verses of Robert Service in a cooperative rarely seen in the medium of poetry. Whereas most "gift" or "coffee table" editions of literature, the pictures rarely enhance and often detract from the visual imagery of the poetry. This volume is quite the opposite.

At the price, this is one of the best bargains you will find on Amazon.com. The artistry of the binding and design of the pages would warrant that this book retail at twice the price it does.

I recommend anybody with any interest purchase this book.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't miss reading his poems about WWI, July 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Best Of Robert Service: Illustrated Edition (Hardcover)

Often people read Robert Service and only read his stories about Alaska and the Yukon. For moving poetry about WWI and the loss of his brother, read all the way to the end, very moving.