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Interesting introduction to Alaska for a 12 year old ( )

Not among my favorite Louis L'Amour novels. Worth reading once however. ( )

Not a typical L'Amour western, Sitka takes place mainly in Russian-owned Alaska. Our protagonist, Jean LaBarge, is daring, smart, and interested in making his fortune trading with the Russian colony. Politics are ever-present in this book, but not annoyingly so. While not one of this author's better works, I did enjoy reading it. ( )

Written in 1957, in the run up to Alaska statehood, Sitka is a useful frontier adventure story chock full of manifest destiny propaganda. Jean Le Barge and his triumph over the evil Russians back in the good ol' frontier days of Alaska, keep this book's pages turning. This is all typical L'Amour fare: rugged individualism, gun slinging heroics, women who need men to protect them ect. From a cultural history point of view, this book is great. Sitka encapsulates 1950's values and casts them back on a benevolent frontier past. The cold war parallels alone are worth the read if you are a student of American cultural history. The subtle resource metaphors are numerous and entertaining to unravel. Plus there are some classic tough guy one liners thrown in that had me laughing out loud. ( )