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Title: Graveyard of the Lakes

Subtitle: Great Lakes Books Series

Author: Mark L. Thompson

Narrator: Scott MacDonald

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-02-17

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

For the first time, a historian and seasoned mariner looks beyond the specific circumstances of individual shipwrecks in an effort to reach a clearer understanding of the economic, political, and psychological factors that have influenced the 25,000 wrecks on the Great Lakes over the past 300 years. Looking at the entire tragic history of shipwrecks on North America's expansive inland seas, from the 1679 loss of the Griffon to the mysterious sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975, Mark L. Thompson concludes that a wreck is not an isolated event. In Graveyard of the Lakes, Thompson suggests that most of the accidents and deaths on the lakes have been the result of human error, ranging from simple mistakes to gross incompetence. In addition to his compelling analysis of the causes of shipwrecks, Thompson includes factual accounts of more than 100 wrecks. Graveyard of the Lakes will forever change the listener's perspective on shipwrecks.

The book is published by Wayne State University Press.

Critic Reviews:

"Mark Thompson graphically blends aspects of history and human nature with a broad view of economics, politics, and marine technical advance." (Bradley A. Rogers, East Carolina University)

Members Reviews:

Great book on the Great Lakes

As a history buff, it was an interesting an easy book to read on the ship wrecks that have occurred in this region. What was amazing to me was the incredible amount of ship wrecks that have occurred since the first explorers sailed into the area; I knew it was a lot but never dreamed of the numbers that the author chronicles. Definitely an enjoyable but sobering read. A tribute to those whom sailed, worked and died on these inland "seas"!

Great book

Great read! Captured essence of sailing the Great Lakes. Author's first hand experience and comprehensive research brought the reader into each wreck & tragedy.

No Armchair Historian

Mark Thompson is a scholar and a sailor. He has also been, in his lifetime, a soldier and a legislator. He is an honest, articulate man with a probing mind. He is also a raconteur with a fine sense of humor. Mark brings all this, and more, to his writing.

The shipwrecks described in GRAVEYARD OF THE LAKES are, in a sense, the exceptions that prove the rule. That is, for every shipwreck or foundering, there are hundreds if not thousands of successfully completed commercial voyages on the Great Lakes. By describing the wrecks and the tragedies and looking to discern overall patterns, we learn what keeps voyages from becoming wrecks and tragedies -- even if it is only not to let hubris reach critical mass.

Mark is no armchair historian. He knows firsthand whereof he writes. In this, of course, there is risk of not having adequate perspective. But in Mark's case, in my opinion, his nearness to his subject, particularly when writing of events which yet are in living memory, is what makes his writing incisive.

I have been, even recently, a shipmate of Mark Thompson. He and I, always in good humor, never lose an opportunity to point out each other's flaws. But I have no flaw to mention in regard to this book. Mark provides both an overall understanding of Great Lakes shipping and a specific understanding of day-to-day details.