Customer Reviews

The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic

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Wow! What a breathtaking read. The Salisburys have beautifully captured an exciting bit of American history. Except for one slim book years ago, nothing has been written -until now- about the race against time and weather to deliver medicine for a diphtheria epidemic to Nome, Alaska in 1925.

The writers take the reader on a wonderful adventure that later fostered the annual Iditerod race. They have expertly woven together the history of a nation, its people and the dogs that became such an integral part of Alaska's very existence. "The Cruelest Miles" captures the intimacy between man and animal in the same way "Seabiscuit" so successfully did.

In early 1999, I read the New York Times' obituary of the last surviving musher of that miraculous dog sled team. I noted it with interest. Gay Salisbury and Laney Salisbury went more than one step further. They created a fascinating, well written book. From the very first page, I could not put it down!

The graphic, vivid descriptions of such freezing temperatures made me feel a chill in the 100* California heat. I felt as if the authors themselves had experienced and survived the very perils of the Alaskan wilderness they describe. They described the scenes, strength, fellowship and symbiosis between dogs and humans, interdependancy that every faction of the Alskan wilderness shared as if they had lived it themselves.
I am a teacher and have read Balto to my children many a time...this will give me a much greater insight and lesson plans around the literature.
If you like dogs-even just a little bit-you'll love this book AND love your dog more. If you like adventure, you'll like this book. If you like history, you'll like this book. If you're interested in the lesser explored slices of 'Americana' you'll like this book.

Gay and Laney Salisbury have done a wonderful job of researching and writing a riveting saga of one of the most incredible journeys in history.

I knew one of the primary mushers...Leonhard Seppala, and the story they have told is the story I heard direct from Seppala. In the early 1960s Seppala lived in the Ballard district in Seattle. I got to know the man several years before his death and would stop to visit him after school and listen to his tales over cookies and milk. At the time there was no way a 10 year old could appreciate the incredible conditions Seppala faced in this epic race to save Nome.

The Salisbury's have filled in those details. They have set the scene and helped me appreciate just what it was like in Nome in 1925 setting out by dog sled in 50 below temperatures to travel so many miles. I received the book for Christmas and it was the most delightful book I have ever read.

What's more it was wonderful to see that Leonhard's lead dog Togo got the recognition he so deserved. I remember how saddened Leonhard was even late in life that Balto got the glory and Togo got virtually no credit. The stories he told me about Togo showed he was an exceptional dog and Leonhard loved him to the end.

Thank you for writing such a well researched account of this event and presenting it in such a fascinating fashion.

Robert Lane
Ashland, OR

More thrilling than fiction are the stories of real-life events, especially those as gripping as this one. One of the problems of writing about an event of which everyone knows the ending is keeping the suspense going, as well as giving sufficient background for the reader to understand the depth of the crisis. The Salisbury cousins have been painstaking in their research, and have interspersed the narrative with information about weather, natives, history, and personalities so that we are caught up in the tension, pain, and struggle of the efforts of so many to bring serum to the isolated community under the worst possible conditions. For readers concerned with heroism, as well as delineation of a time and place, this is a page-turner.

I believe this is a well written book that really satisfied my interest in Alaska, its natives, and the amazing relationship between dog and man. I had picked up "Cruelest Miles" just on the heels of reading "Seabiscuit," which I enjoyed thoroughly. So, I was riding on some high standards when I read the Salisbury cousins' book. And, as it is their first book together, there's room for improvement, but I enjoyed their work enough to pass it on to friends.

The absorbing portions of the book focus on the amazing feats of the Sled drivers and their teams of dogs. One gets a chill even in this summer heat when reading about mushing the dogs through a blinding snow with wind chill temperatures at 70 below. And that is the main tribute the book rides on: without these courageous men working in tandem with arguably the most loyal of animals, scores of Nome residents would have perished to the horrible disease of Diptheria.

The authors, unfortunately, do tend to get the reader sidetracked when taking a detour chapter into the background of a specific element of Alaska history. Some of these pieces added little value, and instead slowed the momentum of the great race to get the serum to Nome. I also made the mistake of reading each footnote; some contain interesting facts, but many were quite long, and only distracted me from the adventure that the authors otherwise do a great job in relaying.

Avoid the long footnotes, stick to the trail of the dogs, and you will enjoy reading a fascinating piece of history from the Last Frontier.

For once the blurb on the back cover is accurate, ",,,the Salisbury's writing is as straightforward and honest as the men they are describing. This is a moving story, superbly researched and deftly told."

In the small town of Nome, in the furthest northwest corner of the coast of Alaska, a diptheria epidemic occurs in the winter of 1925. The town doctor knows he needs serum to save lives but he has only a very small supply. There are no roads or railways to Nome. The port is unreachable because of ice and the airplanes of the time could not take off because of the extreme cold. The only solution is to run the serum in by dogsled, across Alaska in temperatures of around minus 60 degrees.

This is a saga of the heroism of both men and dogs. Some of the dogs died as a result of giving more than they had to the race across the ice. Men had their hands frozen to the sled. But they made it and saved many lives. Both men and dogs displayed valour and tenacity in conditions beyond anything we can imagine.

In telling this deeply moving story the writers take the opportunity to show us the basic elements of life in the outposts of Alaska - the effects of the cold, the wind, the winter darkness, the isolation. The readers don't learn this, they FEEL it. The pace of the story builds from the discovery of gold at Nome in 1898 to the dramatic, heroic dash with the serum in 1925.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about the outdoors and the courage of men and dogs in overcoming impossible odds.

The Cruelest Miles, written by first cousins Gay and Laney Salisbury, is a thorough and well written account of the dog sled race to get life-saving serum to isolated Nome, Alaska during a diphtheria epidemic. This 1925 event was a major news story in its day and would even be referred to in the 1949 Looney Tunes cartoon "Daffy Duck Hunt" (Daffy leaps from Porky Pig's freezer claiming to have just returned from a daring adventure, "But we had to get that serum to them somehow! Mush! Mush!"). The authors offer excellent background information on every important element of the story. The history of Nome-especially the gold rush at the turn of the century-, the breeding of the Siberian Husky and the history of dog sledding-including the All Alaska Sweepstakes, Alaska politics, the daily lives of early Athabaskans and Eskimos, backgrounds on all the leading participants in the relief crusade, and the campaign to establish an arctic airline industry are all described in excellent detail. The most moving part to me was the description of what the diphtheria patients (most of whom were children) suffered (p. 36). Such information helps the reader better understand the sense of desperation Dr. Welch and the residents of Nome felt at the time. They also put the epidemic in good context by describing the Flu epidemic of 1918, still fresh in the minds of many in 1925, which took the lives of over 1,000 people around Nome.

As important and interesting the background information is, I found myself getting anxious for the authors to return to the serum dog sled run. The constant detours the authors take to cover other subjects takes away from the momentum of a very riveting story. Still, I understand that if this background information was not provided, readers would complain that the book lacked depth. Once on the serum run topic, the authors demonstrate a vast knowledge of the dangers confronted by the dog sled teams and drivers, particularly in the -40 degree conditions they faced during the run. The authors show a deep respect for those involved, especially expert musher Leonhard Seppala. The Salisburys also continue the story with what happened to the main participants (dogs included) after the event. The serum run put Nome in the news and spurred the passing of the Airmail Act of 1925 whereby airplane companies could compete against dog teams for mail contracts. The airplane would finally take over from the dog as the main source of mail transport in Alaska (the last dog mail run was in the early 1960s) (pp. 236-7). In 1925, however, it was still the dog's day and the traditional way of life in Alaska out-performed the new, floundering technology to save lives. I highly recommend The Cruelest Miles. It was written with much research and care. It includes a section of photographs as well as additional photos throughout the body of the book, source notes, bibliography, brief bios on those involved in the serum run, and a map of Alaska.

This is a wonderful written account about the courage and endurance of some wondeful dogs and their drivers.
Their story of courage is recalled here, with great details, and tells us of how great the dedication of these drivers, to get the life saving serum to Nome in order to help contain the deadly diphtheria epidemic, was.
Nome, Alaska, once the Gold Rush's main destination needed urgent help to contain a life threating epedimic. Drivers and their brave dogs were called upon to transport and get the serum to the city.
Men have always had dogs as their best friend, now they relied on their endurance and courage to save hundreds of people in need.
Even in the early stages of Alaskan commercial flights, dogs were the only true reliable partners of men. Just imagine for a moment, the icy cold conditions, the blizzards, the cracking of the ice as the sleigh made their way over it, and the never ending trails that just seem so lonely and unending. These are the conditions that these dogs and their drivers had to endure. Also, important here, the relationship and trust between the drivers and their dogs, shown here to be strong and deep throughout this great story. One needs the other and vice versa.
Balto, Togo are not well known anymore (but for Balto's statue in NYC's central park, no one really recalls their efforts) but for hundreds of people in 1925, these dogs became national heroes and saviors.
The one drawback, you feel a certain emptiness, as these wonderful dogs go into retirement, never to be heard of again. When Togo passes away, one feels he has lost a great and dear friend.
Great book, very entertaining and highly recommended for everyone.
If you are a dog owner or simply love them as such, this is a book for you.
Gay and Laney Salisbury, thank you for your wonderful book and for telling the world how great those dogs were !

The authors seem to want to put the brakes on an exciting tale, frequently digressing to tell a part of Alaska's history. While this is interesting, it also fragments the story and can be quite annoying. When the authors state "The serum had yet to face its greatest challenge - the crossing of Norton Sound", you just know you are going to have to hear the history of Norton Sound, when you'd rather stick with the dog race.
A little rearranging of the story elements would have improved this book greatly.

I love Alaska and I love dogs, so this book couldn't be more perfect as far as I am concerned. The story itself is amazing, and the authors cover all the bases to create a rich picture of both Alaska at the time and of the race to Nome. It's a historical narrative and an adventure story rolled into one. I also have to say that I disagree with the Times review (obviously the author wished she had written this book herself and so was biased). It's a fast-paced story, exciting and captures the people and places (and dogs!) quite well.