MYSTERY AT CHILKOOT PASS is the 17th book in the "History Mystery" series. It is autumn, 1897, and twelve-year-old Hetty, her friend Alma, their parents, and Hetty's Uncle Donall have left their homes in San Francisco to seek gold in the Klondike gold rush. They must get themselves and three tons of supplies and equipment up and over Chilkoot Pass before winter sets in. Thousands of other goldhunters are making the same trek. The story follows their struggle from the time they leave their ship near the coastal town of Dyea until they ascend the Pass. Along the way, large amounts of cash and small personal items of little value disappear. Hetty suspects her uncle might be a thief. Thieves are dealt with harshly in this frontier environment. Hetty proves to be a person of strength and resolution. She works hard and does what she has to in the face of hardship and death.

MYSTERY AT CHILKOOT PASS is a worthy addition to the "History Mystery" series. It will make you appreciate the hardships people were prepared to endure in the pursuit of fortune. It may also make you wonder what could have possessed people to leave their homes and put themselves through such hardships on the slim chance that they might find enough gold to make themselves rich. A nice introduction to an interesting bit of history.

The title of the book "Nazi Gold" was only one of the subjects examined in the book. This would disappoint those only interested in the fate of Nazi Gold alone. However there are plenty of later books dealing specifically with Nazi Gold. In this book war plunder and loot of all types are described including, Black markets, Uranium, Radium, Platinum, Currency laundering, stolen National Treasures, Art, cigarettes, vehicles, business ownership, Mistresses & Prostitutes, forged papers, Narcotics etc.
After reading many similar books, I would say that this is one of the better books relating to the occupation life at the end of the war and focused upon activities in the American sector between 1945 and 1949. This particular version is less pleasant and a balance against the glossy version seen in the popular history books about the same time period.
When I read this book, I knew that most of the real Nazi plunder had already left Germany by 1945. This book more specifically addresses the fate of the millions that remained and were both hidden and scattered during 1945 and after.
The authors are British and therefore, while focused upon American wrong doing, seemed biased and tended to ignore wrongdoing in the other Allied sectors. Though they did give a few examples of other Allied thefts.
The book examines the social, political, organizational, and economic conflict atmosphere in the American zone during occupation, that led to various thefts and cover-ups. The geographic area of emphasis seems to be the areas near the Swiss, Italian border. The Authors make a point that this area was the most corrupt area of American occupation with a natural geography for hiding and smuggling.
The American corruption was so widespread and open that it undermined the integrity of the occupation of a defeated nation and could have provided additional cause for German desires toward ultimate reprisal, much as the corrupt Northern carpetbagging aftermath of the South after the American Civil War. The corruption weakened the case for remorse, reflection and restitution from the German people.
One can see that corruption of the first order was in play to such an extent that many Nazi war criminals were able to escape, often with much of their Nazi loot. Many of the American officers were compromised and cooperated secretly with the Germans up to the highest levels of American occupation governance. Some of the American officers were also surprisingly former German Citizens. Americans were vulnerable to bribes of loot and women with some American officers that even took in former high level Nazi Mistresses who were also acting as compromising agents.
The book is filled with circumlocutions and sidetracks. However it appears that the Authors were afraid to state certain things directly and therefore cleverly hid the truth along the tangental paths. For example, describing an important figure early, then reintroducing them later, when most would have forgotten. General Patton's connection to and possible causes for his fate, are mentioned.
Given today's retrospection over the tremendous sacrifice and bloodshed of the Allies, the book left one wondering who ultimately won the war. It seems that secret German leadership was able to compromise the US to such an extent as to ultimately circumvent restitution processes and to get their way. They were then, as a former agressor and then a defeated nation, able to grow economically faster than most of the economies of the 'victorious' Allies whose economies were victimized by the war and also in ruins.

I found this book to be a quick and enjoyable adventure. As a pilot and aircraft owner, like the author, and one who has flown in the same country that the story takes place, I would have been critical of obvious errors in his use of terms and place names. This was not a problem however. I like flying/adventure books and this one fit that catagory well.

The author tended to go into a little too much detail about his social life and seemed to mention eating in resturaunts, including what was ordered, a little too much. Some authors would have included the entire contents of this book into one or two chapters of a longer book. However, I think anyone who enjoys adventure in Alaska, flying, or gold prospecting would enjoy the book, as I did. It is well written and some of the author's roots in England seem to come through in his writing style.