Customer Reviews

War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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One reviewer called this book, "a gem of a book... promises to be one of those small classics in the history of technology that sets a new standard for how the core questions of the field are framed and addressed." Right on! It's also a small classic in that it brings carefully documented history in the reach of the ordinary literate reader. This book is so well written that it reads like an adventure story rather than a dry history. It also debunks the myths about the Monitor that we learned as children, showing that the designer, the seamen, the politicians all contributed in their own ways to the myths. By referring to the diaries of one of the officers of the ship, the book brings every detail to rich and human life. We share the insights of the famous political and literary figures of the day, from Abraham Lincoln to Nathaniel Hawthorne to Herman Melville. We learn what really happened at Hampton Roads and what it all means for us today. And we learn about how "Smart weapons displace heroism from the field to the laboratory, from warriors to engineers, and from spectacle to secrecy." Everyone interested in the history of technology, the history of war, and the ways writers interpret events of the day will want to read this fine little book.

I had to read this for my history of american technology class, and I have to say I did enjoy it. It goes into detail of how it really affected the lives of the people on the boat, especially like the letters sent from a man on the boat to his wife about the everyday life onboard. I specifically like how it points out the permanent change in battle; no longer do you see the men you kill, no more is the honor of hand-to-hand combat. You fight behind plates of steel, and don't look the man you fight with in the eye. It's not about the layout of the USS Monitor, it's about how it was a turning point in war technology. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn a bit about US history, without getting too technical for the common non-history guru person.

The book was a bit too dry at times. But the overall story is quite amazing. I read it for class and found myself enjoying the read. So if you are at all interested in this time period, this is a good book!