Ironclad: The Monitor and the Merrimack [Hardcover]

Arthur Mokin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1991

With a novelist's eye and the historian's devotion to research, Arthur Mokin recreates the early years of the Civil War, immersing the reader in this place and time. Readers will witness the birth of technology that revolutionized navies around the world--proven in the historic battle of the Merrimack and the Monitor. Ironclad is immensely readable--popular history at its best.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Documentary filmmaker and first novelist Mokin offers a good look at how the Union built the Monitor and in 1862 won a decisive victory over the Merrimack. The story highlights headstrong Swede John Ericsson, who designed the radical ironclad, while focusing on Navy secretary Gideon Welles, one of the few Lincoln loyalists in the Cabinet. Washington, D.C., in 1861-1862 is vividly shown: droves of U.S. military officers "going south," popular fear and impatience (especially after Bull Run), the strange hesitancy of general-in-chief McClellan, the political and military intrigues. Unfortunately, Mokin pays less attention to the naval fireworks; the epochal battle of the two ironclad ships, when it finally comes, seems to be just warming up when it's suddenly over. A sure explanation of the foreign and domestic implications of the Union blockade, but don't blink during the sea battle.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- A well-written, accurate history of the inception, building, and function of the first ironclad ships used in warfare. Mokin gives insight into the enormity of building a navy ``from scratch,'' along with a look at the workings of the Lincoln White House and the related war offices. He includes fascinating sidelines (how the toilets worked), details of the private lives of the main historical characters, and facts about Washington, D. C. during the Civil War to keep the information lively. --Peter Craig, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Pr; First edition (May 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891414053
• ISBN-13: 978-0891414056
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,885,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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