Customer Reviews

Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Paul Hancock's entry into the Great Lakes shipwreck genre is a very nicely produced book with many dramatic photos and a high level overview of a small sampling of accidents. The book is a good coffee table style book for the casually interested, but will disappoint those already acquainted with the genre or those looking for a more comprehensive and accurate reference. Despite the lavish production, the book is poorly researched, relying solely upon the secondary resources of a single archive. Subsequent errors in photo identification and historical fact abound, such as the misidentification of the schooner Northwest and the outright fabrication of the loss of the sidewheeler Planet, while details concerning the losses of several others vessels are grossly inaccurate. The book contributes no new information to the historical record and is simply an unchecked rehash of the (sometimes erroneous) work of previous researchers. The book is solely for the entertainment of the casual enthusiast and is a blatantly commercial effort bearing a striking similarity to the now out of print book Wrecks and Rescues of the Great Lakes by James Barry. Of the small sampling of Great Lakes wrecks considered, nearly all have already been written about extensively by previous authors, usually with greater historical accuracy. If you are seriously interested in the history of Great Lakes shipwrecks, this is a good book to skip. However, if you are looking for a coffee table book with large, dramatic photos of Great Lakes ships and shipwrecks, this is an excellent volume.

If your from the Detroit area or really from anywhere, this is an excellent book. There are a lot of great articles about a lot of ships, and the pictures are awesome. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Great Lakes or ships.

Very interesting reading of some of the many tragedies that befell mariners on our Great Lakes. The Author includes numerous B&W photos of some of the vessels prior to their demise and some after. With close to 90% of the pages containing photographs and detailed information as to the type, length, width, weight tonnage of each ship it gives the reader a visual as well as mental picture of the vessel they are reading about. With information of the many vessels ranging from a few paragraphs to a couple of pages you appreciate the numerous hardships the crews had to endure. Have loaned the book to several friends and all have enjoyed immensely.

In my opinion, this book is wonderful for leaving on your coffee table for people to browse through. It not only looks very nice but it's useful to spark a conversation about diving and also has decent content and history about some wrecks. Personally, I bought the book as sort of a reference for scuba diving and I found that "Divers guide to Michigan" was more of what I was looking for. However, like I said, this is a great book and I am really happy with it for what it is!