Howard Fuller is Senior Lecturer of War Studies in the Department of History as well as a Core Member of the History and Governance Research Institute (HAGRI)'s Conflict Studies Research Group at the University of Wolverhampton. He specializes in Anglo-American 19th-century history, particularly the American Civil War and the British Empire. He lives in the U.K.
"The US Civil War witnessed new engines of war, some of the most
powerful of which were naval guns mounted on shallow draft,
armor-protected warships. Most prominent were the monitors.
Deployment of these vessels in inshore waters changed naval warfare
and gave the Federal Navy advantage over the Confederacy. The naval
construction program of the Federal Navy had marked influence in
Great Britain, where naval architects and gunnery experts pondered
the influence such new mechanisms would have in their own narrow
seas. France took a similar interest, causing Britain anguish. But
the British Admiralty realized that the Royal Navy could not
blockade US ports if war broke out with the US: ironclads in brown
water could ruin British naval supremacy. Based on various
documentary troves in the US and Britain, this work seeks to
compare and contrast the influence that new technological
innovation had on the emerging US power at sea and the reactions of
the British government, Parliament, and Admiralty."-Choice
"Between 1860 and 1863, British and American navies faced a
technological revolution in ship construction admist a "cold war"
with the Trent crisis, British aid to the South, and fears of a
blockade felt by Northern cities. Dr. Fuller provides a detailed
description of the players--private engineers, admiralty,
contractors, Department of the Navy, departments and officers,
diplomats, and politicians--on both sides of the Atlantic....[T]he
book should be of interest to anyone concerned with handling
technological change, contracting, deterrance, the effect of
political oversight, publicity, and the maneuvering of statesman
during a time of crisis."-Catholic Library World
"Howard Fuller does much more than illuminate the technological
advances in 19th-century navies, he places those advances within a
political, diplomatic, and professional context. In doing so, he
has greatly expanded our understanding of how technology influences
history."-Craig Symonds, Professor Emeritus, U.S. Naval Academy and
author ofDecision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American
History
"By placing the early ironclad fleets of Britain and America in
their diplomatic context, Fuller provides an altogether more
persuasive explanation of naval technology and the war of words
between Admirals, engineers and politicians that swept both
countries. A work of the first importance."-A Specialist
Publication
"This is a detailed, well-referenced, fascinating account of the
development before and during the American Civil War of two new
forms of warship and a complex naval arms race involvnig three
powers."-The Northern Mariner
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