Sitka (1957)

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. ( )

Good, solid L'Amour. The men are men, the women are women, and the furry animals are furry animals. ( )