Hard Times is the name of a town in the barren hills of the Dakota Territory. One day, a reckless sociopath arrives, intent on destruction. By the time he has ridden off, Hard Times is left a smoking ruin.

The de facto mayor, Blue, takes in two survivors of the carnage—a boy named Jimmy and a prostitute, Molly, who has suffered unspeakably—and makes them his provisional family. Blue begins to rebuild Hard Times, welcoming new settlers, while Molly waits with vengeance in her heart for the return of the outlaw.

This is E. L. Doctorow’s debut novel, a searing allegory of frontier life that sets the stage for his subsequent classics.

In this sweeping epic of the northernmost American frontier, James A. Michener guides us through Alaska’s fierce terrain and history, from the long-forgotten past to the bustling present. As his characters struggle for survival, Michener weaves together the exciting high points of Alaska’s story: its brutal origins, the American acquisition, the gold rush, the tremendous growth and exploitation of the salmon industry, and the arduous construction of the Alcan Highway, undertaken to defend the territory during World War II.

A spellbinding portrait of a human community fighting to establish its place in the world, Alaska traces a bold and majestic saga of the enduring spirit of a land and its people.