Iditarod: The Great Race to Nome

by Bill Sherwonit, Jeff Schultz (Photographs), Susan Butcher (Photographs)

Provides a history of the race from the early 1900s, and presents comments from mushers on training, strategy, and their dogs

Genres: Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1991

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

With its 1,100 miles of trail, the Iditarod Trail Race is the longest sled dog race in the world. Participants come from many countries to compete in this race, not only for the prize money, but for the thrill, adventure, and chance to test their limits in America's Last Frontier. The trail includes some of the roughest terrain in Alaska, and weather conditions can include blizzards and temperatures reaching nearly 50 degrees below zero and more with wind chill. The majority of the trail follows the route taken in 1925 when dog sled relay teams delivered life saving diphtheria serum to the citizens of Nome which was isolated by a blizzard. This book tells the story of the "Great Race of Mercy" as well as the races along the modern Iditarod Trail. Beautiful photographs accompany this comprehensive story of the historic race and the people and places that have contributed to its success.

[Stephen Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Copyright 1991. I didn't intend to read another book on dogsledding, but the book is not that big and the pictures are so inviting.

There is a lot of great pictures in this book that made the book for me. Most of the books I have read on the Iditarod either didn't pictures, or were just pictures when the racers were stopped, or were not that high quality. There are pictures in this book I wish I could have hanging on a wall to look at often.

Starts off after a foreword from Joe Redington, is a chapter on the Gold Rush Era. Very nice historical pictures. Good summaries of the various Gold Rushes. Next chapter on the All-Alaska Sweepstakes. I learned something new:

"Truth be known, it was Allan's six-year old son, George, who first proposed a race to settle an argument about which family owned Nome's top dogs.

More great pictures from that 1908 race which ended in 1918 because of World War I

Next chapter on The Race for Life, the serum run. Nice details, I will need to compare next time I read the book 'The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic' which REALLY covers all the details. Sherwonit's book is a nice summary of the details. What I found interesting is how he left out the details of the number of dogs that died along the way. I also didn't know or remember that Balto was rejected by Seppala as being too slow, and then later picked up by musher Gunnar Kaasen who wound up sledding the last leg.

Then very nice chapter on the origins of the Iditarod Race. I had heard some details before, but this seems more complete and interesting, starting with the 'Mother of the Iditarod' Dorothy Page. I love stories where there is considerable opposition and some people predict will fail miserably and it turns out a little different.

The chapters after that give descriptions of different portions of the trail with different stories mixed in. I think they would be good reference when reading other books on the race to for additional info.

I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it. Not my favorite book relating to dogsled racing, but definitely my current favorite of pictures about the race.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read a number of books about the Iditarod, I selected this book primarily because it was advertised as being a book of photos by Jeff Schultz, the long-time official photographer of the race. I expected it to be a primarily imagistic coffee-table book, so was quite surprised to find the fabulous photos comingled with Bill Sherwonit's substantial text. Reading the Iditarod books of individual particpants over the years, I've learned a lot about the race and enjoyed their variously harrowing or exciting tales, but often have been frustrated at the way that individual writers assume that readers know certain things about the race and, thus, focus mostly on their own tales without stopping to provide occasional background or explanations that would help Iditarod neophytes to understand the context. Here is the best overall view of the race that I've seen so far - a great introduction to the history of the race, its people and places. Plus, great photos!

[Jen Maybe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suffers from some classic "coffee table book" weaknesses: some of the photos are gorgeous, while others are redundant or flat; sections of the text are repetitive or under-explained due to poor structure. But overall the friendly tone, thoughtful history and fascinating intricacies of the sport more than kept my interest. Plus, cute dog photos. Can't wait to see the Iditarod in person next year!

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably the best book about the Iditrod that I've read, simply because it was so informative.

[Marge]

lots of info