Having spent much time admiring the Great Lakes, I was looking forward to reading this regional history, but was a bit disappointed with this book. I was initially drawn in by the romantic sweep of language, the endearing folksy style of historical writing of the 30s and 40s. But at times its absurd heavy-handedness made it clear that this was a one-sided, manifest-destiny march of progress and industry from one end of the Lakes to the other. I felt dragged along, sometimes applauding the action, other times saddened by it, but dragged nonetheless. It isn't the sort of history that would be written nowadays, the book is a bit tiresome due to its limited point of view.