Alaska; a sense of scale -- Crossing the next frontier -- Land before time (prehistory-1728) -- Lifting the veil; an empire up for grabs (1728-1865) -- Seward's folly; two cents an acre becomes a heck of a deal (1865-1897) -- Go north; the rush is on (1897-1915) -- Interlude; the calm between the storms (1915-1941) -- Forgotten campaign; World War II in Alaska (1941-1945) -- Postwar rumblings; statehood and earthquake (1945-1964) -- North again; this time the gold is black (1964-1980) -- Whose land? competing claims (1980-2001) -- Alaska; a sense of scale.