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The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 614.5123097986
Format: Bargain Price
Label: W. W. Norton & Company
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 303
Publication Date: 2003-05
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Studio: W. W. Norton & Company
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Editorial Review:
Alaska, 1925: the diptheria serum is 674 miles away. Without it, the people of Nome will not survive.
Nome, Alaska, sits on the edge of the Bering Sea two degrees below the Arctic Circle, and there are few more forbidding places on earth, especially in winter. Dr. Curtis Welch knew the signs of diphtheria, knew that his patients—many of them children—would die without a shipment of fresh serum.
The port was icebound and the nearest railhead was almost 700 miles away across mountains, rivers, and the treacherous ice of Norton Sound. A blizzard was brewing, and airplanes, in 1925, could not fly in such conditions. Only the dogs could do it. A relay was set up, and the drivers, many of them Native Alaskans, set off into the night at 60š below zero, often trusting their lead dogs to find the trail under feet of driven snow. The legendary heroism and endurance of the men and dogs in the Serum Run need no enhancement. Here, for the first time, their story is told in full. 34 b/w illustrations.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - If you love dogs you will love this book...
This is a good read and as I said in the title of the review...if you love dogs you will love this book. Our dog got a ton of pets and hugs when I was reading this true well researched story.
Rating:  - Wonderful book!
Do we really need another book about the great dog-sled rescue team racing serum to Nome to save the town from a diphtheria epidemic? Why, yes, actually, we do indeed. This thrilling book recounts not only the canine and human heroes of the rescue team but tells us about the heroes in Nome, e.g., the doctor who had to play god and how he did it. Also, the Balto myth is debunked.
Rating: - The Cruelest Miles
I am doing genealogical research on one of the participants mention in "The Cruelest Miles" and found the book most help in narrowing my research. I found the book well written and documented.
Rating: - Real Dogsledding
This is an excellent historical review of Alaska dogsledding years ago and how a medical epidemic was averted in the early 1900's. Being true, it is remarkable how interesting and exciting fact can be compared to fiction.
Rating: - A superb book -- well-written, exciting, uplifting, true!
-I'd like to add another five-star vote for this book, which recounts the desperate emergency dogsled run to deliver diphtheria toxin to the town of Nome, AK, when it experienced a sudden epidemic during an Arctic blizzard (this journey served as the inspiration for the famous Iditarod race). At the time, Nome was hundreds of miles from the nearest point of transport, and dogsleds were the only way to get the serum through. So ... who could not love a well-told documentary about one of the most exciting ... Read More
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