Product Description

At the start of the American Civil War, neither side had warships on the Mississippi River, which was a vital strategic artery. In what would prove the vital naval campaign of the war, both sides fought for control of the river. While the Confederates relied on field fortifications and small gunboats, the Union built a series of revolutionary river ironclads. First commissioned in January 1862, these ironclads spent the next two years battling for control of the Mississippi, fighting in a string of decisive engagements that altered the entire course of the war. This book explains how these vessels worked, how they were constructed, how they were manned and how they were fought.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #367627 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-19
• Released on: 2002-08-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

From the Publisher
The unrivalled illustrated reference on fighting vehicles, transport and artillery through the ages. Each volume is illustrated throughout, making these books uniquely accessible to history enthusiasts of all ages.

About the Author
Angus Konstam is an experienced Osprey author with over 20 books in print. Formerly the Curator of Weapons in the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London, he also served as the Chief Curator of the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida. His maritime titles for Osprey include New Vanguard 45: Union Monitor 1861–65 and New Vanguard 49: Mississippi River Gunboats of the American Civil War 1861–65. Angus lives in London, where he combines a freelance museum consultancy business with a career as a historian and writer.

Customer Reviews

Great Book - technical details and great pictures
A number of books have been written about America's bloodiest conflict - the Civil War. This book concentrates on Union river ironclads, which formed the nation's first "brownwater navy." The book details the design and development of the ironclads, major operations involving them, and a catalog of vessels with specifications. What makes Konstam's book different is that it focuses solely on Union river ironclads and subsequently has more technical data and photos of these particular ships than any other tome that I have encountered. The book does focus on this particular class of ships somewhat in a vacuum and pays little attention to the overall strategy of the riverine campaign or wooden support vessels. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in naval warfare - especially those who enjoy reading about the transition from ships of wood to steel. Union River Ironclads has a wealth of technical information and dazzling full-color drawings and schematics of the ships. I have enjoyed both its academic utility and just looking at the pictures.

One LARGE error
As well as this book may be written, there was one glaring error repeated throughout the book - that of referring to Vicksburg as Vicksburg, Tennessee. Apparently the editors and/or authors have zero familiarity with the War Between The States, because anyone who knows anything about the war knows that Vicksburg is in Mississippi. And this error was not just a one time error (as it occurred in the related work Mississippi River Gunboats of the American Civil war 1861-65) but appears repeatedly. It is truly astounding. Having said that, the book was well written and a great source of information. I would like to have given it 4 stars but the errors really detracted from an otherwise good work, making me doubt the integrity of the remaining information. Still a good volume to have in one's collection.