Last of the Breed

by Louis L’Amour

First published 1986

Amazon

4.5(7,788)

Set in the late Cold War, when a captured American pilot escapes into the Soviet Siberian wilderness, Last of the Breed is a novel built around the pressures of its historical setting. Here is the kind of authentically detailed epic novel that has become Louis L'Amour's hallmark. It is the compelling story of U.S. Air Force Major Joe Mack, a man born out of time. When his experimental aircraft is forced down in Russia and he escapes a Soviet prison camp, he must call upon the ancient skills of his Indian forebears to survive the vast Siberian wilderness. Only one route lies open to Mack: the path of his ancestors, overland to the Bering Strait and across the sea to America.

The historical background is Late Cold War Espionage. L’Amour uses practical details of travel, work, weather, weapons, distance and local authority to make the setting more than a backdrop. The result combines fast-moving adventure with a strong sense of how isolation, weak institutions and rapid economic change could shape individual choices.