Customer Reviews

The Best of Robert Service

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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.

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.

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.

They say that Robert Service was not a 'poet's poet'. The effete literati sneered at his work, and accused him of writing doggerel. But, the people have always loved his work. He was truly a 'people's poet.'

His first volume of poetry, The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses, sold out while it was still on the presses. Two of his ballads, The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee, are among the most memorized poems in history.

The Shooting of Dan McGrew alone made him a half-million dollars, which was a sizeable fortune in his time. He never had to do manual labor for his bread again, after its publication.

This volume of his work contains not only all of his best-known poems (those contained in both The Spell of the Yukon and his second, longer collection, Ballads of a Cheechako), but also many of the photographs of the famous Northwestern photographers, Clarke and Clarence Kinsey -- famous not only for the photography of the Klondike gold rush, but also for Clarke's later photographs of Pacific Northwest logging, some of which were included also in my father's book, When Timber Stood Tall.

This is a high quality coffee table book that you will not only delight in reading before the fire on a winter's evening or when that confining office job is getting you down, but it will also display well on your coffee table, where it will draw friends' attention like a magnet.

For Robert Service is, without a doubt, one of the best-loved of the world's poets. His poetry stands alongside that of Kipling, Coleridge and Poe in the public's affection.

Joseph Pierre

The period pictures are wonderful! If you love ballads and a taste of the last frontier, this book is a must have. For anyone who has experienced the great land, you must own this lovely portrait of a bygone era. From the memorable characters to the living spirits of the midnight sun and aurora borealis, this book conjures up the most vivid of your dreams of becoming a sourdough! Step back in time and relive the days of the gold rush. One glance through the pages will have you reciting Robert Service at your next gathering of friends. The hardback is carefully assembled and detailed.

Robert Service has been in my family for years. We read or recite from memory every year at our yearly camping exerience in Canada.

Robert Service is the master of the north, and in this anthology, he proves it. Whether it is in famous works or in lesser known poems, Service paints the harsh, beautiful landscape of the Arctic like no one else. He makes the Northern Lights come alive. His experiences as an ambulance driver in WWI also gave him insight into the terror of war, and the poems from this period, also included, are wonderful, if at times painful to read. Even if you don't care for poetry that much, you'll love this collection.

I bought this book in 1952 in a cabin which was claimed to be Robert Service home in Whitehorse Yukon Territory. I can think of no other book which I have enjoyed more or has gotten me through some pretty tough times. His characters are so real one can almost touch them.

Robert Service, if anyone, could be called "the grandfather of cowboy poets." This has been a popular genre over the past few years and much of the work done by these wonderful men and women can be traced back to Service's poems and style. Being called the "Bard of the Yukon" is certainly true, but sells this particular writer short. His works include so much more that just the delightful poems of the Canadian Territory. Simply written, with a story, they are quite a delight for both old and young alike. I recent years, some of our elitist in our academic world have been less than kind to this poet. This is all well and good with me. They simply don't get it. Service's work will quite likely endure far longer than some of the ranting I read in the professional journals. I read these poems to young folks in my classes, and they seldom fail to delight and indeed, inspire. It is difficult to go wrong with this one. Highly recommend.

"Alaska is what America was..." is a quote you'll often read while traveling in Alaska. Its directed at the vast unexplored space of Alaska.

Robert Wm. Service captures the ethic's and the loyality of its people following their dream of going from rags to riches. His pomes are fantastic in that respect.