Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Diamonds in the North American Arctic

Krajick, Kevin

ISBN 10: 0716740265 / ISBN 13: 9780716740261

Published by W H Freeman & Co, New York, New York, U.S.A., 2001

About this Item

First printing. Flat-signed and dated (same date) by author on ffep with NO inscription. Blue and black paper boards with silver foil-stamped spine. FINE cond. Flaws: light bumping to spine tail and moderate bumping to spine head with NO chipping, rubbing or tears. NO markings throughout - NO rem mark or ex-lib. DJ has minor bumping to spine edges and one closed tear (3/4") at bottom. Also, minor shelf-scuffing. NO other flaws. Price intact: $26.00. Seller Inventory # 002924

Bibliographic Details

Title: Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Diamonds in...

Publisher: W H Freeman & Co, New York, New York, U.S.A.

Publication Date: 2001

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good ++

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

In the tradition of Sebastian' Junger's The Perfect Storm and Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, Barren Lands is the extraordinary tale of two small-time prospectors who risked their lives to discover $17 billion worth of diamonds in the desolate tundra of the far north.

In the late 1970's, two men set out on a twenty-year search for a North American gem mine, along a fabled path that had defied 16th-century explorers, Wild West prospectors, and modern geologists. They are an unlikely pair: Chuck Fipke, a ragged, stuttering fellow with a singular talent for finding sand-size mineral grains, and Stew Blusson, an ultra-tough geologist and helicopter pilot. Inventive, eccentric and ruthless, they follow a trail of geologic clues left by predecessors all the way from backwoods Arkansas up the glaciated high Rockies into the vast and haunted "barren lands" of northern Canada. With a South African geochemist's "secret weapon," Fipke and Blusson outwit rivals, including the immense De Beers carte, and make one of the world's greatest diamond discoveries- setting off a stampede unseen since the Klondike gold rush.

A story of obsession and scientific intrigue, Barren Lands is also an elegy to one of earth's last great wild places, a starkly beautiful and mysterious land strewn with pure lakes and alive with wolves and caribou. An endless variety of primeval glacial rock formations hide copper, zinc, and gold, in addition to diamonds. Now that the barrens are "open for business," what will happen to this great wilderness region?

Barren Lands is an unforgettable journey for those who, in the words of a nineteenth-century trapper, "want to see that country before it is all gone."

About the Author:

Kevin Krajick is a prizewinning journalist whose articles have appeared in National Geographic, Newsweek, The New York Times, Science, Discover, Audubon, Smithsonian and many other publications. He was a finalist for the National Magazine Award for Public Service and won the American Geophysical Union's 1998 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism. He lives in New York City.