While World War II brought big defense dollars north, it also brought a secret Russian mission to Fairbanks, interment of Aleut people in the foreign landscape of Southeast Alaska and the proliferation of tuberculosis.
As the Cold War era saw an increase of money and people into the Last Frontier, it also generated stories of heroic Alaska Airlines flights for freedom, Alaska Natives battles against discrimination and how Anchorage blossomed into a jewel on the tundra.
The last section of this volume features the 91-year struggle for statehood. It's filled with tales of tenacity, hope and determination, and showcases the movers and shakers of days gone by, Alaska's first elected governor and the discovery of crude that tipped the balance for America's 49th state.