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Blue & Gray Navies: The Civil War Afloat

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Though overshadowed by the famous campaigns on land, the naval battles fought between the Union and the Confederacy was just as significant in determining the outcome of the Civil War. In this book, Spencer Tucker seeks to rectify this imbalance, not just by giving the fighting on the sea and the rivers their due, but by going beyond the usual focus on the famous ironclad duels and the commerce raiders to provide a comprehensive study that includes many neglected aspects of the naval war between the states.

Tucker succeeds in this aim. His book is a comprehensive account of the war, one that looks not just at the battles, but the people, vessels, logistics, and technologies involved in the combat between the two sides. Yet much of the drama is missing from the story. The first part of the book, where Tucker addresses the organization, ships, and personnel of the navies, reads like an extended encyclopedia entry; it is not until Tucker reaches the famous battle between the Monitor and the Virginia that the book is truly engaging, and much of the rest of the text struggles to emulate these pages. For those readers seeking to understand the naval aspects of the Civil War, how it was fought, and the role that it played in the broader struggle this is a minor quibble, but anyone seeking a dramatic narrative of ironclad ships battling one other should turn elsewhere.