Reviews

Any number of books on the Civil War cover the major land campaigns in one volume, and many more detail certain aspects of naval actions of the war. Few, however, contain the entire nautical history of the Civil War between their covers, as does this work by Musicant (Banana Wars, Macmillan, 1990). Musicant here details the high seas operations, the blockade of the Confederacy, the futile Union attempt to take Fort Sumter by sea, the clash of the ironclads, and the many riverine operations of the war. Unfortunately, the Confederate navy receives scant credit for having made many innovations and having accomplished what it did despite shortages and overwhelming opposition. Otherwise, this is a welcome addition to any Civil War collection.‘Robert A. Curtis, Taylor Memorial P.L., Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

Musicant (Battleship at War) draws on the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion and a broad spectrum of published primary and secondary sources for this history of the Civil War's naval operations. He focuses on the responses of both combatants to unfamiliar challenges. New ship types‘ironclads and submersibles‘were merely the most visible characteristics of a general flexibility and originality. This account is an operational narrative, not a strategic analysis. Musicant is at his best when describing the duel between the Kearsarge and the Alabama, or Admiral David Farragut's forcing of Mobile Bay. He demonstrates as well the vital role of Union sea power in such combined-arms riverine operations as the siege of Vicksburg. His final conclusion, that the Union blockade ultimately deprived the Confederacy of the commercial and political contacts it needed to survive, is well supported in this highly readable volume. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Aug.)