Portland Book Review on Mikel Classen’s “True Tales: The Forgotten History of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula”

True Tales: The Forgotten History of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula by Mikel B. Claussen takes the romance out of the stories of northern Michigan. Instead, Claussen weaves a yarn of facts the way only a Yooper can. His style is approachable and very much based on the storytelling of the region, plenty of facts peppered with clever interjections.

These little-known tales are written with the respect and matter-of-fact style that readers will appreciate. While “just the facts” for the most part, with pertinent quotes from relevant materials, the odd authorial interjection catches the reader at prime moments for a laugh, or at least a quick smile.

Deeply informative, but never boring, each chapter covers a different event or person in the often dangerous and sometimes lawless Great Lakes frontier. Maybe Michigan natives especially will be surprised by these stories from the state’s past. Claussen doesn’t focus on the well-known or the glamorous stories, but instead the odd, the little-known, and the people who labored so hard to provide for themselves and their families in an unforgiving and brutal environment.

This is a wonderful volume to better understand the little-understood region that is Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

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Author Mikel B Classen
Star Count 4/5
Format Trade
Page Count 162 pages
Publisher Modern History Press
Publish Date 01-Apr-2022
ISBN 9781615996353
Amazon Buy this Book
Issue June 2022
Category History
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Lake Superior Tales, 2nd Edition

978-1-61599-404-5
$14.95
In stock
1
Product Details
UPC: 978-1-61599-404-5
Brand: Modern History Press
Binding: Paperback
Edition: 2nd
Author: Mikel B. Classen
Pages: 134

Join us for epic adventures in the U.P. on land and lakes!

Pirates, thieves, shipwrecks, sexy women, lost gold, and adventures on the Lake Superior frontier await you! In this book, you’ll sail on a ship full of gold, outwit deadly shapeshifters, battle frontier outlaws and even meet the mysterious agent that Andrew Jackson called "the meanest man" he ever knew. Packed with action, adventure, humor, and suspense, this book has something for every reader. Journey to the wilds of the Lake Superior shoreline through ten stories that span the 19th century through present day including "The Wreck of the Marie Jenny," "The Bigg Man," "Wolf Killer," and "Bullets Shine Silver in the Moonlight."

Mikel B. Classen is a longtime resident of Sault Sainte Marie in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. His intimacy of the region, the history and its culture gives this book a feel of authenticity that is rarely seen. As a writer, journalist, columnist, photographer, and editor with more than 30 years experience, his breadth of knowledge is unparalleled.

"It's clear that Mikel B. Classen knows and loves the Lake Superior area of Michigan and brings it to life in a delightful way. If you want frequent laughs, unusual characters who jump off the page, and the fruit of a highly creative mind, you’ve got to read this little book."
-- Bob Rich, author, Looking Through Water

From Modern History Press

Learn more at www.MikelClassen.com

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