Waiting in the night, hidden behind a remote island, no lights showing, pirates would lure unsuspecting ships into unknown waters. Then they would silently slide up to them and board the ship. The crew would be killed and the bodies thrown over the side, weighted down with chains. The pirates would take the cargo, sink or burn the ship, and then, just as quietly, sail away into the night. Dead men tell no tales, nor do they testify in court.
Forget everything you've learned about pirates from Johnny Depp films. Instead of chasing down ships laden with gold, the Great Lakes pirates were after commodities. There were fur pirates, timber pirates, religious pirates, and inept pirates. Just about anything that could be sold fell prey to pirates. Cargos could be stolen and then sold at the next port.
"Loaded with rare period photos and engravings of the infamous pirates who wreaked havoc in Great Lakes waters and shore communities, Classen's inviting narrative is fast-paced and filled with legends of treasures and daring exploits." -Sue Harrison, international best-selling historical novelist
"Piracy on the Great Lakes is a swashbuckling treat and fascinating addition to Great Lakes lore. Historical vignettes filled with fur traders, religious extremists, and Civil War opponents bring it to life. You'll be surprised, entertained, and enlightened by the tales of high adventure that await you in these pages." - Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD, award-winning author of The Mysteries of Marquette
"Replete with hair-raising tales of black-sailed ships, desperate and bloody conquests, frontier politics, revenge, and retribution, Mikel Classen's Piracy on the Great Lakes paints a vivid picture of piracy's social and economic role in America's adolescence. Classen contex-tualizes the broad strokes of the Civil War, the late stages of the fur trade, and the timber market with anecdotes of personal detail that are often far stranger than fiction." - J.D. Austin, author of The Last Huck
"I learned a lot about the Great Lakes and was impressed by the extensive research Mikel B. Classen must have done. He has packed a lot of information into less than 100 pages. I would recommend it to anyone seeking a good read about our Great Lakes." - Larry Jorgensen, author of Shipwrecked and Rescued
"This slim volume contains a wealth of information on a subject that seems as reluctant to reveal its history as the historical pirates of the Great Lakes who guarded their anonymity. Piracy on the Great Lakes is filled with photographs and illustrations that complement the narrative. Classen has written a fine survey of pirating on the Great Lakes and even readers with some knowledge of the subject will find it worth their time." -- Tom Powers, Michigan in Books
Classen, Mikel B.: - Mikel B. Classen has been writing and photographing northern Michigan in newspapers and magazines for forty years, creating feature articles about the life and culture of Michigan's north country. A journalist, historian, photographer, and author with a fascination of the world around him, he enjoys researching and writing about lost stories from the past. He is founder of the U.P. Reader and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association. In 2020, Mikel won the Historical Society of Michigan's George Follo Award for Upper Peninsula History.Classen makes his home in the oldest city in Michigan, historic Sault Sainte Marie. He is also a collector of out-of-print history books, and historical photographs and prints of Upper Michigan. At Northern Michigan University, he studied English, history, journalism, and photography.His books, "Au Sable Point Lighthouse: Beacon on Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast" (2014), and "Teddy Roosevelt and the Marquette Libel Trial" (2015) were published by the History Press. His book of fiction, "Lake Superior Tales", won a 2020 U.P. Notable Book Award. "Points North" (2019), a nonfiction travel book, received the Historical Society of Michigan's, "Outstanding Michigan History Publication," along with a 2021 U.P. Notable Book Award. Since then, he has released, True Tales: the Forgotten History of Michigan's Upper Peninsula (2021), and "Faces, Places, & Days Gone By: a Pictorial History of Michigan's Upper Peninsula" (2022). Classen is co-author of the "Yooper Ale Trails" (2023) along with Jon C. Stott all published by Modern History Press. In late 2023, Mikel released his first novel, The Alexandria Code, an Isabella Carter Adventure, published by Modern History Press. Mikel's newest endeavor is the Yooper History Hunter Series, the first of which is Old Victoria, a Copper Country Ghost Town.To learn more about Mikel B. Classen and see more of his work, visit www.MikelBClassen.com.
