Naval Warfare: Courage and Combat on the Water

As you may have gathered from some of the other reviews of this book, the text could stand some improvement. However, the beautiful paintings and graphics make up for this somewhat, and are valuable for wargamers wishing to paint accurate miniatures, and for creating shorelines and fortifications.

The Civil War Chronicles "Naval Warfare" is a must for any beginning civil war buff as well as the die-hard enthusiast who wants a strongly-written, coffee table pictorial book of Civil War Naval action. Wideman's narrative is balanced, and he has indeed chosen the best illustrations from the past as well as from today's Civil War artists, as he himself pointed out in his comments. Wideman not only covers and covers well the major actions ("Monitor" vs. "Merrimac", Farragut at Mobile Bay, the "Kearsage" vs. "Alabama"), he also covers the lesser-known incidents as well; i.e., the Red River Expedition of 1864, and the assault on Fort Fisher in 1865. All of the major naval personalities are also mentioned here, although he only gives scent coverage to Cushing's daring assault on C.S.S. Albemarle. Again, very value-priced and a finely illustrated narrative of civil war sea combat and innovation.

This book is absolutely a must for anyone interested in Civil War naval history. It is not a large book, but the paintings are absolutely wonderful. I have never seen a book of Civil War naval art which is so complete and visually stunning. The text is also quite good, and enhances the already enjoyable feel of the book. I would strongly endorse this book to any armchair historian, as it touches on an oft-neglected aspect of the War Between the States in a way that is very appealing, both visually and intellectually.