Land of the Ocean Mists: The Wild Ocean Coast West of Glacier Bay

by Francis E. Caldwell

Book Overview

"Explore the fabulous, seldom-visited Pacific Ocean section of Glacier Bay National Park-a land of historic mysteries, thundering seas and great natural beauty."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0882403117
• ISBN13: 9780882403113
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Alaska Northwest Books
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 1.39 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Perhaps THE best history of Lituya Bay

My expectations for this book were reasonably low; I was expecting a small pocket-sized paperback book with a general history of the Glacier Bay area. What it is, is probably the most extensive history of Lituya Bay and the surrounding region that has been published to date, surpassing Fradkin's "Wildest Alaska" (2001) which had previously held that standing for me. Fradkin's book is still slightly better in terms of describing the native Tlingit Indians and remains an excellent read on its own, but Caldwell has the advantage of providing numerous photos and drawings, and while the book lengths are reasonably similar (173 pgs for WA to 223 for LotOM), Caldwell's book is a large-format paperback (8.5" X 11" pages) and so he has much more room to work with. LotOM has the most detailed description of the life of Jim Huscroft that has been published. Huscroft was a semi-hermit who lived in Lituya Bay from 1922 to his death in 1939, and following his experiences in Lituya gives great insight into what life in the area was like at that time. The event that draws most readers' attention to Lituya, the giant wave in 1958, is also covered in depth (although one should also read Fradkin on this as well, as the latter draws from a wonderfully readable scientific report that the late Don Miller wrote about the giant wave in 1960). Caldwell has a writing style which is very easy to follow, and his own experiences in the area assist him in creating a picture for the reader that makes one of the more wilder parts of Alaska come alive. I wish this was available in hardcover, as it is now part of my permanent library and while the copy I have is holding up fairly well, it was never designed for heavy use or long-term durability. That's a pity, as Caldwell's work is probably the finest history available about this particular part of the world.