Graveyard of the Lakes

Great Lakes Books Series

By: Mark L. Thompson

Narrated by: Scott MacDonald

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.

©2000 Wayne State University Press (P)2017 Redwood Audiobooks

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)

And i thought that i knew a lot!

I completely realized that everything that I thought I knew about shipping on the Great Lakes was miniscule after listening and learning from this amazing book!

Great Shipping History

fascinating history of shipwrecks on the great lakes. lots of detail and personal accounts - great info on the mindset of Coast Guard and the industry

A great deep dive into the cause of shipwrecks on the lakes

Wonderful read, but a couple repeats in narration at key moments that can easily confuse you.

Kinda judgy

Mark Thompson is probably right about all the human error that caused shipwrecks, but the narrative comes off as kind of pompous, all about the bad decisions made by various captains. Since many of them ended up dying terrible shipwreck deaths, seems a little unnecessary.

Very Factual and Very Redundant

I happen to be a reader of Maritime history and appreciate the facts the author put forward but it is basically a list of shipwrecks being read off.
Each chapter reads to me like a chronological list of boiler explosions and groundings and little engineering references. It seems very factual and well researched but difficult to listen to.