Sailing the Sweetwater Seas: Wooden Boats and Ships on the Great Lakes, 1817–1940, by George D. Jepson. Published by Sheridan House, in association with WoodenBoat, P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616. Illus., index, hardcover, 200 pp. $45.
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Sailing the Sweetwaters Seas is a collection of WoodenBoat articles by George D. Jepson. It tells the maritime history of the Great Lakes through the lens of the wooden boats and ships that pushed into the young Unites States’ middle region—and beyond. Indeed, the lakes—the so-called “five sisters”—were America’s first cargo and passenger superhighway before railroad lines and roads arrived in the late 19th century. Wooden boats helped establish the region’s robust industrial base, propelling the United States to become a world power.