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

Salisbury, Gay; Salisbury, Laney

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393325709 ISBN 13: 9780393325706

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005

Synopsis

"A stirring tale of survival, thanks to man's best friend." ―Seattle Times

When a deadly diphtheria epidemic swept through Nome, Alaska, in 1925, the local doctor knew that without a fresh batch of antitoxin, his patients would die. The lifesaving serum was a thousand miles away, the port was icebound, and planes couldn't fly in blizzard conditions―only the dogs could make it. The heroic dash of dog teams across the Alaskan wilderness to Nome inspired the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and immortalized Balto, the lead dog of the last team whose bronze statue still stands in New York City's Central Park. This is the greatest dog story, never fully told until now.

2 maps; 48 illustrations

About this title

About the Author:

Gay Salisbury is the former associate publisher of Basic Books. She splits her time between Fairbanks, Alaska, and New York City.

Laney Salisbury, a Columbia Journalism School graduate, has reported from Africa, the Middle East, and New York. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

From AudioFile:

An epic 1925 journey of men, dogs, and sleds delivered serum to Nome, Alaska, to stave off a diphtheria epidemic that was killing the population. It was the dead of winter, Norton Sound was frozen solid, temperatures plunged to minus 60 degrees, and the railhead, where the serum would arrive, was 700 miles from Nome. To complicate an impossible situation, a gale-force blizzard was developing along the trail that the dogs and mushers would use. Margot Dionne delivers this mind-numbing experience in a calm voice, allowing the words to convey the terror and agony that characterized the journey. This is entirely right, as the real heroes of the tale are the dogs--and the dogs don't speak. The men, who were also heroic, weren't a loquacious lot either. One of them summarized his journey by saying, "It was real cold." R.E.K. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0393325709
• ISBN 13: 9780393325706
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320