Above the Arctic Circle: The Alaska Journals of James A. Carroll, 1911-1922

by James A. Carroll

Above the Arctic Circle transports the reader back in time to the Alaska of 1911 into the Athabaskan Indian village of Fort Yukon and beyond. It was a time when travel was by trail or river on routes shared by man and wild beast, when communication reached only as far as the echo of one's voice, and when the first order of each new day was survival in the face of unyielding natural elements. This is the time and place chronicled in the personal journals of James A. explorer, pioneer, dogsled musher, trapper, trader, husband, and father. It is an authentic first-hand account of a young man's first decade in the territory of Alaska, a straightforward telling of the adversity and adventures of life on the far north frontier. This story, told with honesty and more than a little humor, offers a kind of kinship connecting author and reader thereby extending a personal invitation to take the journey north through time with James A. Carroll -- Above the Arctic Circle.

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2005

Reviews

[Colten Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account from an interesting period of time.

Makes you want to sit down with a nice plate of rat with a side of rat gravy.

[Jackson Peill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of rats mentioned. Good book.

[Michelle Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by my great-grandfather!

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a little slow and was a little boring. While the book was life experiences, it read like a paper and just had facts about what the author did. It had no emotion and was just here is what I did and when. This is something I would skip.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tough living

James Carroll was a natural born storyteller and he had to be a tough man to live his life north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska. Carroll’s Alaska was a great read and a true test of his survival skills.

[mark Freshwaters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good to set in history the life of living in bush of Alaska. Tough life tough people that did what was necessary to live and raise a family. Well written.