In March 1942, the northwestern North America was invaded by an army of 10,000 soldiers and an equal number of civilians. Their purpose was to thwart any attempt by the Japanese to overrun this continent. Their improbable task was to push a highway 1,500 miles long through dense bush and over mountains and raging rivers, to link Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Fairbanks, Alaska, in less than eight months. In all, 30,000 men and women played a part in building under the most grueling conditions what is undoubtedly the world’s most remarkable highway. Ken Coates has written the complete story of the highway—an engineering project unmatched in North America in the twentieth century. Today the Alaska Highway remains a fragile thread across the spectacular wilderness of North America’s northern frontier, offering travelers the journey of their lives as they venture North to Alaska!