The two books that keep resurfacing for me are “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes” by Dan Egan and “The Living Great Lakes” by Jerry Dennis.

Egan’s reporting is historical, as well as cultural, coursing through the many and myriad ways the lakes have endured the ebb and flow of pollution, overuse, disputes over usage, even the introduction of non-native species.

A Milwaukee native, Egan earned praise for his environmental reporting before embarking on the more comprehensive analysis in his book.

Writing about threats from outside, Egan outlines the historical line through the lakes, connecting the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Erie Canal, and the Caldwell Canal. These routes have all contributed to an increase in commerce and capitalism, but also the zebra mussel, the round goby, and more invasive species that threaten the health of native populations of fish life.

Egan explains that the route for invasives came via shipping innovations, such as containers that are now standard fare on ocean-going freighters.

Some 20 years later, the driver, Malcom McLean, “converted a World War II cargo ship so containers could be stacked like Legos on top of each other,” and the birth of the ubiquitous cargo containers that now make up much international commerce was born.

“The Living Great Lakes” from Jerry Dennis is the other book that comes to mind when considering the enormous impact of the lakes on regional and even global developments.

As part of the crew on the schooner Malabar, sailing from his Traverse City home to the East Coast, Dennis recounts a boatload of history and culture as well, detailing the many ways the waterways shaped those who passed through or settled nearby.

Before his long sail, hoping to learn more about the lakes he’d always recognized, Dennis “explored beaches and shoreline villages and city lakefronts” while living in on a quiet stretch of Lake Michigan’s northern shoreline.