The Long Ships Passing: The Story of the Great Lakes

“An absolutely bang-up history of the Great Lakes written by a Miami of Ohio English professor who spent his youthful summers as a sailor on the long ships. Havighurst wrote this in 1942, raiding the offices of now-vanished newspapers for nearly forgotten stories about the terrific thrum of traffic that came through the lakes, the towns and cities that rose and fell as resources were discovered and extracted, and the many peoples pulled and pushed by the wake, not to mention assorted storms, tragedies, and wrecks. Do parts of it (esp. concerning Indigenous folks) make me wince? Yes. Still, it is the most capacious and comprehensive history of the Great Lakes I have come across, and reading it changed how I understand the place I call home.”