The Late, Great Lakes: An Environmental History

Great Lakes Books Series

by William Ashworth

The Late, Great Lakes is a powerful indictment of man's carelessness, ignorance, and apathy toward the Great Lakes. With the longest continuous coastline in the United States, they hold one-fifth of the world's freshwater supply. Author William Ashworth presents a compelling history of the Great Lakes, from their formation in the Ice Age, to their "discovery" by Samuel de Champlian in 1615, and, finally, to their impending death in our time. Ashworth systematically deals with the wild life that once flourished in the region―beaver, salmon, whitefish, and trout―and describes the threatening elements which have displaced them―the predatory sea lamprey, the alewives, toxic waste, and volatile solids.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Nature, Environment

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Brandon Pytel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ashworth takes us across the Great Lakes, blending history and geology with a first-person narrative to describe the absolute beauty of the scenery on North America's Fifth Coast. The first quarter of the book or so talks about the discovery of the Great Lakes by Europeans and their subsequent drive to tame the vast waters, use them for commerce and ultimately exploit their resources and navigation channels for a new nation. First it was fur, then trees, then metal, each industry ravishing the landscape in a different way.

What remains constant is the underlying truth of these Lakes' existence: they're geologically infant and therefore fragile to human whims. especially whims that aren't well thought out, or at least ignorant of the instability of the waters. This is a great companion to Dan Egan's Death and Life of the Great Lakes published last year, covering many of the same topics from invasive species to navigation to algal blooms to acid rain. We make drastic decisions about our Lakes without thinking ahead, not knowing the bigger picture, or just not caring. If we're not careful, with responsible management, the Great Lakes may eventually be destroyed (in the case of pollution and invasive species and dredging) or simply taken away (piped to the Ogallala region).

[Palswd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wide-ranging and well-written. Rich in background information, but analyses (or reflections, to be more precise) are not very deep. Overall a great read.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading a 30 year old work of nonfiction is, many times, a dicey situation. Much can change in such a time period and this is the case for this book. High lake levels at the time this book was written are no longer and the lakes are at a historically low level. Many of the problems written of persist and have been joined by new ones. Invasive species continue to be a problem, pollution is always a problem, and out of basin diversions big and small are a question. There was little talk about bottled water and what a large diversion this could be in a small container. Some pollution has been... moved? And there is the lake level issue. An interesting historical look at the lakes but to take this as a current state of the lakes is, obviously, a big mistake.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting history of the Great Lakes and the history of them being spoiled by humans. Written in 1987 - wish there was an update as I know much clean-up has been done.