Piracy on the Great Lakes

True Tales of Freshwater Pirates

De: Mikel B. Classen

Narrado por: Rory Young

Waiting in the night, hidden behind a remote island, no lights showing, pirates would lure unsuspecting ships into unknown waters. Then they would silently slide up to them and board the ship. The crew would be killed and the bodies thrown over the side, weighted down with chains. The pirates would take the cargo, sink or burn the ship, and then, just as quietly, sail away into the night. Dead men tell no tales, nor do they testify in court.

Forget everything you've learned about pirates from Johnny Depp films. Instead of chasing down ships laden with gold, the Great Lakes pirates were after commodities. There were fur pirates, timber pirates, religious pirates, and inept pirates. Just about anything that could be sold fell prey to pirates. Cargos could be stolen and then sold at the next port.

©2024 Mikel B. Classen (P)2025 Mikel B. Classen

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Classen's inviting narrative is fast-paced and filled with legends of treasures and daring exploits."—Sue Harrison, historical novelist

"Piracy on the Great Lakes is a swashbuckling treat and a fascinating addition to Great Lakes lore. Historical vignettes filled with fur traders, religious extremists, and Civil War opponents bring it to life. You'll be surprised, entertained, and enlightened by the tales of high adventure that await you in these pages."—Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD, author of The Mysteries of Marquette

"Replete with hair-raising tales of black-sailed ships, desperate and bloody conquests, frontier politics, revenge, and retribution, Mikel Classen's Piracy on the Great Lakes paints a vivid picture of piracy's social and economic role in America's adolescence. Classen contextualizes the broad strokes of the Civil War, the late stages of the fur trade, and the timber market with anecdotes of personal detail that are often far stranger than fiction."—J.D. Austin, author of The Last Huck

Informative

I definitely learned a lot from this. I’m from the area, so it’s nice to hear historical things about my area that I didn’t know before.

Interesting part of history I'd never heard of

I love listening to books on history, and this was interesting as I had never heard of all this pirate activity on the Great Lakes. I especially found the parts about the Mormon branch led by James Strang, who settled on an island in Lake Michigan and the illegal importation of alcohol from Canada during the Prohibition.