Books

The Great Lakes—Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior—hold 20 percent of the world’s supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work, and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan’s compulsively readable portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes, blending the epic story of the lakes with an examination of the perils they face and the ways we can restore and preserve them for generations to come.

The Great Lakes is a stunning picture book about the five largest lakes in North America – how they formed, the importance of their abundant freshwater, and how they’ve become a national treasure.

The Great Lakes—Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior—are five blue jewels set a bit off center in a belt across North America’s middle. Bordered by eight states and part of Canada, the Lakes hold 21% of the world’s fresh water. How did these incredible lakes get there? And what can we do to preserve such a treasure?

The Great Lakes: A Natural History of a Changing Region is the most authoritative, complete and accessible book to date about the biology and ecology of this vital, ever-changing terrain. It begins with an account of the geological formation of the lakes and an overview of the lakes' role in relatively recent human history. Grady takes readers through the lakes basin, defined and explored by its three component forest ecosystems: the Boreal, the Great Lakes/St Lawrence and the Carolinian Forests. Representative flora and fauna species are profiled, along with notable physical, climatic, and environmental features.