DOC Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War by Benson Bobrick in History

Description

The inspiration for The Last Alaskans—the eight-part documentary series on the Discovery Channel! Called “[one of] the greatest life-or-death-tales ever told” (Esquire); James Campbell’s inimitable insider account of a family’s nomadic life in the unshaped Arctic wilderness “is an icily gripping; intimate profile that stands up well beside Krakauer’s classic [Into the Wild]; and it stands too; as a kind of testament to the rough beauty of improbably wild dreams” (Men’s Journal).Hundreds of hardy people have tried to carve a living in the Alaskan bush; but few have succeeded as consistently as Heimo Korth. Originally from Wisconsin; Heimo traveled to the Arctic wilderness in his feverous twenties. Now; more than three decades later; Heimo lives with his wife and two daughters approximately 200 miles from civilization—a sustainable; nomadic life bounded by the migrating caribou; the dangers of swollen rivers; and by the very exigencies of daily existence. In The Final Frontiersman; Heimo’s cousin James Campbell chronicles the Korth family’s amazing experience; their adventures; and the tragedy that continues to shape their lives. With a deft voice and in spectacular; at times unimaginable detail; Campbell invites us into Heimo’s heartland and home. The Korths wait patiently for a small plane to deliver their provisions; listen to distant chatter on the radio; and go sledding at 44° below zero—all the while cultivating the hard-learned survival skills that stand between them and a terrible fate. Awe-inspiring and memorable; The Final Frontiersman reads like a rustic version of the American Dream and reveals for the first time a life undreamed by most of us: amid encroaching environmental pressures; apart from the herd; and alone in a stunning wilderness that for now; at least; remains the final frontier.