Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000-Mile Journey Around Wild Alaska, the Last Great American Frontier

Travel writer Adams (Meet Me in Atlantis) wonderfully recounts, and emulates, the 1899 voyage organized by railroad tycoon Edward Harriman to survey the coast of Alaska. Using the writings of Harriman and his team of natural scientists—including John Muir, at that time the leading writer on the “relatively new” subject of wilderness protection—Adams follows along the Harriman expedition’s trail to compare what it found during its two-month, 3,000-mile adventure to present-day Alaska. Making “every important stop” that the Harriman team did, Adams details the state’s natural beauty, as well as the changes that have taken place since. For example, the town of Ketchikan, which in 1899 consisted only of a salmon cannery and a few buildings, is now Alaska’s sixth-largest city, and Yakutat, whose “total isolation” had made it known for “attracting the most extreme dropouts,” is now Alaska’s “unlikely surf capital.” He also gives an excellent account of the history and impact of the oil industry and climate change on Alaska: “The thinning ice that promises a potential boom for Nome’s economy and global shipping companies dooms Shismaref [an Inupiat fishing village] to near-certain disaster.” Adams gives readers an eye-opening look at the past and present history of a fascinating region. Agent: Daniel Greenberg: Levine, Greenberg, Rostan Literary. (May)