It is an authoritative and gripping story of the battles waged.

Originally published in 1990, when it was a Military History Book Club selection, the work is considered a must for Civil War buffs. Neither ponderous nor hagiographic, the work presents characters and events that have been previously neglected and offers candid assessments of officers, men, and material. Vividly written and well researched by a noted historian of the period, this succinct history credits the Union Navy as an essential element in the northern victory. Clean, tight, square copy with only light used wear. Particulars given on each vessel include tonnage, dimensions, type of engine, armament, builder, construction dates, and fate, along with a brief war records that even mentions prizes taken.A very nice book from private collection. More than 200 contemporary photographs and drawings, some never before published, and extensive appendices further enhance the value of this fact-filled, easy-to-use guide. Separate sections of the book are devoted to vessels used on the Mississippi River and those in the Revenue Cutter Service. Important new information is presented on captured blockade runners taken into the U.S. In addition to bringing together widely scattered facts and figures, this book reveals many little-known details about the ships that served the two sides, including the ultimate dispositions of many ships as well as the former identities of acquired vessels. It provides, for the first time in one place, a compilation of statistical data, war service, and histories of every vessel in both the Federal and Confederate navies. With this book a well-known warship expert with years of experience collecting hard-to-find data offers a convenient, one-stop source of information for Civil War buffs, ship enthusiasts, and scholars. Despite the large number of books published on the American Civil War, this was the first single-volume reference to list and describe all of the ships that participated in the war.

Books about civil war navies