Customer Reviews (1)

Rhyme of the ancient sourdough
If you like a book, and you're not a crook and you're old enough to breed, wipe off that frown and sit right down, pick up this book and read.To the frozen north you'll sally forth, to the tundra's virgin snow.Eatmoosemeat stew like Dan McGrew, with a slab of sourdough.I enjoy oldRobert Service, his poems set me free.There's others far more elegant,he's good enough for me.These poems reek of the gold they'd seek, theytell of a life that's cruel.But there's humor buried by the gold, life'struest hidden jewel.So find a chair by the fireside there, throw yourmukluks by the door, and learn who shot poor Dan McGrew, and what they shothim for. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: History / General; Fiction / Classics; History / General; Literary Criticism / Poetry; Poetry / General; Poetry / American / General; Poetry / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; ... Read more

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Originally a bank teller, Robert Services' life changed when he found himself transferred to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. Like everybody else, Service was smitten by the gold rush. Only Service mined words, not gold, and within five years was famous as the poet who had captured the essence of the fever, the adventure, the men, and the women. The magic of the words is beautifully captured by award winning Nariken Van Nimwegen. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Midnight Sun...
This be the same book me father read to me as a wee little lad.The pictures are amazing and truly enhance the reading of Robert W. Service's classic poem.I had been in AK this past summer and couldn't get the poem out of my mind so I had to buy it.Love the book.I have been using it as an example with my students as a way that art and poetry can be fused.

Great kid's book -- for adults
I volunteer at a nursing home and this book was requested by one of the residents. We've so enjoyed reading this aloud.

Bringing back memories
I remember my grandmother reciting The Cremation of Sam McGee to me when I was a child. This wasn't the only poem that she would recite from memory, but it was my favorite ... and I'm sure I wore her out requesting it again and again.

It's been many years since I've even thought of that poem, but lately I had been trying to remember "that poem about the prospector being cremated." I was able to track down the title and was so pleased to find it at Amazon - along with a few other poems of Robert Service that I had not heard.

It made for a wonderful evening reading through those poems and remembering my child's sense of wonder even as I read them with the eyes of an adult who could appreciate the meter and rhyme scheme. I'm very happy to have re-discovered Robert Service's works (and to have had a grandmother who instilled the love of poetry in me).

MIddle School Teacher
As a middle school teacher who teaches poetry with my grade 6 advanced language arts students, this selection is a big hit. While I have taught the famous Cremation of Sam Magee in the past, I was unaware of the huge collection of narrative poems that Robert W. Service wrote. Perfect for middle school students. Each selection has a story line and a touch of humor that is well suited to engage this challenging population.

Cremation of Sam McGee
Book by Robert ServiceThe Cremation of Sam McGee,I am 70yrs. old, when I was a child my father would read with great expression this story to me and my 6 siblings.I always thought as an adult I should have dad tape his reading.I waited too long and dad died.I read where this was now available with amazing art. I purchased the book and have read it to my grandchildren.They love it.Frequently dad would say"A promise made,is a debt unpaid"I was amazed to find where he got that saying, it was from the Cremation of Sam McGee story

Robert Service wrote of the Yukon and the severity of that area.Check it out, you may just find this a fun story to read and share. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Alaska; ... Read more

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Rhymes of a Red Cross Man. please visit www.valdebooks.com for a full list of titles ... Read more

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The Trail of '98 - A Northland Romance is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Robert W. (Robert William) Service is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Robert W. (Robert William) Service then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1914.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

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Ballads of a Cheechako. please visit www.valdebooks.com for a full list of titles ... Read more

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This is the story of the great stampede of gold seekers to the Yukon, written from the eyewitness viewpoint of the author.Not just a spectator, the author was among the first gold seekers who took part in the initial mining activities in the northland.The story is one that reflects incredible daring by those who held the dream of fabulous wealth, and of the less desirable elements of greed, cruelty, and suffering. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An inept thriller
Robert W. Service is remembered today only for volumes of verse mainly dealing with life during the Yukon Gold Rush.Indeed, the very first volume published made him a wealthy man and he spent most of the rest of his life in a mansion in Brittany.Perhaps to while away the time spent there with a beautiful Parisian wife about 15 years his junior, he wrote six novels that could be considered "thrillers" in the Edgar Wallacevein, and only one is set in the Gold Rush days of Alaska.

What we have here is his next-to-last novel, published in 1926.Service lived until 1958.The hero, Harley Quinn, has all the requisites of an action hero, being big and strong and handsome, an expert with firearms or fists... but in the course of this 424 page volume, he takes essentially no action on his own, and displays almost no curiosity or reasoning ability.He does meet a lot of Frenchwomen, all of whom Service describes in great detail, and makes exceedingly attractive in different ways... and all are willing to drop everything and run away with our hero on the spur of the moment, but he has a mission, you see, and he's too busy for female alliances.

What is he busy at?Well, an evil character who calls himself Sinistra has acquired a huge stock of bacteria whose infection is difficult to fight, and is decimating the population of Paris.But he can't sell the bacteria to the highest bidder, unless he can also sell a vaccine... and the information about the vaccine has mysteriously vanished.If you have ever read any 1910s-20s thrillers you will know precisely who the disguised and mysterious Sinistra is almost the moment he appears in the pages... and you won't be wrong, alas, because although Service pulls a few red herrings across the path, your first guess is... you guessed it... correct!

In his battle with Sinistra, Quinn is so hopeless and ineffective that he would have been exterminated instantly were it not for the fact that Sinistra believes (incorrectly) that Quinn alone knows the location of the vaccine information, and the circumstance that Quinn has the continual aid of a resourceful thief named Julot.Again, if you have ever read any thrillers of the period you will know who Julot actually is within a few pages of his first appearance... but Service withholds the revelation to the last couple of pages, as if it would completely blindside the reader.

Service slathers on so much detail and local color concerning the various unsavory neighborhoods of Paris that, without it, the novel would have been about half its current length. I assume the detail is authentic! Service also paints a vivid picture of gay, lesbian, trans-sexual and transvestite night life in Paree... unexpectedly detailed for the mid 1920s.

This is the only one of Service's thrillers I have found or read, but I am not anxious to find or read any more, although this one did hold my interest. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1914.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

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Binding unknown. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1922.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This first edition is the most comprehensive bibliography of the works of British/Canadian poet-author Robert W. Service (1874-1958).Service wrote a prodigious stream of poems and rough, frontier literature.In this well-researched and scholarly bibliography, Peter Mitham has produced a brilliant and welcomed bibliography of Robert W. Service's works. ... Read more