"The Klondike Fever" weighs in at a nearly 450 pages, not counting notes and bibliography. This is a nice, big full book.
I DID read a critical amateur online review of the book, by someone who bashed the book for not being PC enough. There are a few words in the book that most of us would not use in conversation today. 1955 was a different time, AND, an author in 1955 covering events in the late 1800s gets a solid pass in my opinion. The book is authentic and close to the timeline of the source. I appreciate a book that is so real, and not edited so as not to offend the easily offended of today.
Anyway, even at over 400 pages, I read this book quick, as Berton describes the first few prospectors finding gold (and a lot of it) in a specific area. Over a very short period of time, the landscape, the people and the economy associated with it are changed forever. Towns develop, local economies are formed, and norms are established. The author really gives a good description of the characters, the places and the events that happen.
Of course, all sorts of issues pop up. Boats are used (and OVER used) in getting people there. Paths and trails are established. Fortunes are made not just on the gold, but on selling things to the prospectors that they forgot to bring, or didn't realize they may want once there (kittens anyone?). AND, in an area plentiful with gold, the value of the dollar gets greatly distorted.
AND, as all good things come to an end..... That happens with the gold rush too.
The book flows nicely too. Pierre Berton tells a constant stream of short stories moving the events along. Yes, he is talking about thousands of prospectors coming to an area, setting up, and then moving along- but the story is told weaving in and out of hundreds of brief, short stories about specific people at that time. There are lots of fun facts peppered in to the big story.
"The Klondike Fever" was just a fun read for me and I really enjoyed it.
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