The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Smithsonian - 10 Best History Books of 2025)

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Smithsonian - 10 Best History Books of 2025
Bookpage - Best Books of 2025

For three decades following World War II, the Great Lakes replaced Europe as the locus of global strength. The region was the beating heart of the world economy, possessing all the power and prestige Silicon Valley does today. And no ship represented the apex of the American Century better than the 729-foot-long Edmund Fitzgerald--the biggest, fastest, and most profitable freighter on the Lakes.

But on November 10, 1975, the Mighty Fitz found herself alone on Lake Superior at the exact worst place, at the exact wrong time, as the "storm of the century" threw one hundred mile-per-hour winds and fifty-foot waves at her. When she sank, she took the entire crew--all twenty-nine men onboard--down with her, leaving a tragedy shrouded in mystery for a half century.

In The Gales of November, award-winning journalist John U. Bacon presents the definitive account of the disaster, drawing on more than one hundred interviews with the families, friends, and former crewmates of those lost. Bacon's in-depth reporting explores the pivotal role Great Lakes shipping played in America's economic boom, the lives the crewmembers led, the storm's ferocity, the sinking's most likely causes, and the aftermath for those left behind--"the wives, the sons, and the daughters," as Gordon Lightfoot sang in his popular ballad.

Focused on those directly affected by the tragedy, The Gales of November is both an emotional tribute to the lives lost and a propulsive, page-turning narrative history of America's best-known maritime disaster.