Reviews

Great Ships on the Great Lakes: A Maritime History by Jefferson J Gray, Bobbie Malone, Cathy Green

jessicaz's review

3.0

This book covers a huge amount of Great Lakes history, from their formation to modern day usage, and covers a wide array of topics along the way – Native American canoe building, exploration of the area by the French, the French and Indian War and the War of 1812, the construction of the Erie Canal and the heyday of the Great Lakes waterway for trade and transportation, and some famous shipwrecks in history. The coverage is a bit scattershot at times, and the text can seem stilted, but I nevertheless think this would be a great resource for libraries in Wisconsin and Michigan (since WI/MI is the main area of focus. As a Minnesotan I was bummed there wasn't more about MN in this book, but I will recover!)– there are some great tidbits of local history, and the authors have included lots of archival photographs. I think there are also broader applications for this book in transportation history units, but it will have the most appeal in the Great Lakes region.