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The Floor of Heaven

A True Saga of the Old West and the Yukon Gold Rush
by Howard Blum
The Floor of Heaven: A True Saga of the Old West and the Yukon Gold Rush. Crown. Apr. 2011. c.448p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780307461728. $26. HIST
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Blum (contributing editor, Vanity Fair; American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century) combines his skills as an investigative journalist and popular author to bring forth an original history of the last of the Western gold rushes in the northwestern frontier of Alaska and Canada. Closely basing his narrative on primary historical documents and academic histories, Blum brings new life to prospector George Carmack's Yukon adventures. In the tradition of great history as great literature, he sorts out historical contradictions and variations to provide a single lively narrative wherein Charlie Siringo, a cowboy-turned-Pinkerton detective and author (e.g., A Texas Cowboy, or Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony) solves the mystery of the Treadwell Mine gold thefts before dealing with Denver con artist Soapy Smith's attempt to relieve Carmack of his newly won fortune.
VERDICT Highly recommended for public and academic libraries; general readers will be richly rewarded by Blum's masterful use of a colorful cast of genuine historical characters set in the majestic northwestern wilderness. [See Prepub Alert, 11/1/10.]
Reviewed by Nathan E. Bender, Laramie, WY , Mar 01, 2011
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