The Cruellest Miles:The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic by Gay & Laney Salisbury - 2003

Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2003. First Edition. Hardcover (Original Cloth). Fine Condition/Fine. blue end-papers; It is 1925. The gold-rush town of Nome sits on the edge of the Bering Sea, two degrees below the Arctic Circle, and there are few more forbidding places on earth. When signs of a diphtheria epidemic broke out in town, Dr. Curtis Welch knew it was the biggest crisis of his life. Supplies of the serum were dangerously low and it was winter. The entire town would be in danger if the medicine didn't arrive in time. He ordered a quarantine and sent an urgent appeal for help. The port was icebound; the nearest railhead was almost 700 miles away across mountains, rivers, and the treacherous ice of Norton Sound; aeroplanes, of the time, had not been tested in such conditions. A relay of dog sleds was set up, and the drivers, many of them Native Alaskans, set off at night into a blizzard at 60 degrees below zero, often trusting their lead dogs to find the trail under feet of driven snow. It was to be a desperate, death-defying race against time. ‘The Cruellest Miles’ is the gripping story of the Serum Run an expedition so riddled with obstacles, natural disasters and feats of heroic endurance that it is hard to believe every word is true. Tense and unbearably thrilling, this is a classic adventure story.  Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. 303 pages. Binding is tight, covers and spine fully intact. in archive acetate film protection. Dust Jacket un-clipped. Blue titles spine. black cloth; illustrated by b/w. maps & photo's.. Includes appendices, selected bibliography & source notes. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilogram. Category: Arctic & Antarctic; Travel & Places; Alaska; History; United States; 1920s; Medicine & Health. ISBN: 0747560617. ISBN/EAN: 9780747560616. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 3194. . 9780747560616