A History of the Confederate Navy (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Paolo E. Coletta (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A History of the Confederate Navy is probably the only important book on the U.S. Civil War that was first written in Italian and then translated into English. Nonetheless, historian Raimondo Luraghi offers the fullest account to date of the South's naval activity. He challenges the popular notion that the Confederate navy was a failure because it did not break the North's blockade. Busting the blockade was not its main goal, Luraghi argues. Instead, the Confederate navy primarily wanted to prevent an amphibious invasion of the South--a mission in which it mostly succeeded. This particular interpretation is disputable, but the facts and figures of Luraghi's history are not. He shows how an agrarian people built a navy that managed to continue fighting several months after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and on the whole made a good showing on the seas against an industrial superpower.

From Publishers Weekly

One of the most prominent European scholars of the Civil War weighs in with a provocative revisionist study of the Confederacy's naval policies. For 27 years, University of Genoa history professor Luraghi (The Rise and Fall of the Plantation South) explored archival and monographic sources on both sides of the Atlantic to develop a convincing argument that the deadliest maritime threat to the South was not, as commonly thought, the Union's blockade but the North's amphibious and riverine operations. Confederate Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory, the author shows, thus focused on protecting the Confederacy's inland waterways and controlling the harbors vital for military imports. As a result, from Vicksburg to Savannah to Richmond, major Confederate ports ultimately were captured from the land and not from the sea, despite the North's overwhelming naval strength. Luraghi highlights the South's ingenuity in inventing and employing new technologies: the ironclad, the submarine, the torpedo. He establishes, however, that these innovations were the brainchildren of only a few men, whose work, although brilliant, couldn't match the resources and might of a major industrial power like the Union. Nor did the Confederate Navy, weakened through Mallory's administrative inefficiency, compensate with an effective command system. Enhanced by a translation that retains the verve of the original, Luraghi's study is a notable addition to Civil War maritime history. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 514 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557505276
• ISBN-13: 978-1557505279
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #784,614 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #71 in

  Books > History > United States > Civil War > Naval Operations

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incandescent, Brilliant, Compelling, BUY IT TODAY, October 15, 2001

By	Steve Quick (Buffalo Grove, IL USA) - See all my reviews

Truly great histories are few and far between. This is one. How many historians can claim to have twenty years of hard research in a book, and not put you to sleep in the first 20 pages? The Confederate Navy was one of the most extraordinary enterprises in all of military history. Tactics and developments fit cleanly within well explained strategy. The personalities, resources, plans and timetables are well integrated and despite all the detail nothing gets lost in the detail. Written by someone who genuinely understands what happened, then told so anyone who wants to can understand it too, this is a gift. Follow Secretary Mallory's herculean task of forming a navy from nothing, employing technology and to changing naval warfare forever with mines, ironclads, and commerce raiders. This one is worth every penny you pay.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE single book to read about the CS Navy, August 13, 1998

By A Customer

The book is the best, single book written about the CS navy that I've ever come across. It's written in an entertaining way that even non-history buffs will find themselves being engrossed in the titanic struggles waged by the tiny southern navy against the Union juggernaut. Mr. Luraghi shows that he did his homework in dredging up the most obscure and interesting facts including the contributions of Blacks in Confederate service (example: Moses Austin, a free black who died in the attack on the U.S.S. Water Witch). The only downside to the book is the sections that go into overwhelming detail on the ships of Dixie. Other than that, it is an excellent book and it is essential reading for anyone wishing to know about the Confederate Navy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent History of the CSN, January 27, 2001

By	S. Lawrenz "Lendorien" (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Written by an Italian no less, this is the best book I have found on the CSN. It is written in a style that is easy to follow, and touches on all aspects of the CSN from shipbuilding, to supply to espionage. Reading this book gave me a full image of the odds going against the CSN and the amazing accomplishments they achieved despite them.

Luraghi is clearly enthusiastic about his subject. His enthusiasm resonates throughout the book. It is clear that he admires the CSN for it's acomplisments despite the incredible odds.

In addition, the sheer amount of research he must have done is breathtaking. The endnotes take up more than 1/3 of the printed pages. What's interesting is that many of the endnotes are annoted with comments about the sources from the author. In my own research, those annotations have been a great asset.

This is definately a MUST read for the Civil War naval history buff.