Quotes
“Fueled by obsessive scholarship and a boyish sense of wonder, Tom Chaffin takes us deep down into uncharted fathoms of the Civil War—and then surfaces with a finny, fascinating tale that’s equal parts Shelby Foote and Jules Verne.” Hampton Sides, author of Blood and Thunder
“There is no more compelling human or high-tech story in the annals of the Civil War than the saga of the remarkable H. L. Hunley and its brave, ill-fated crew. Drawing on a vast archive of original sources and an abundance of interpretive skill, Tom Chaffin has crafted an informed, dramatic page-turner. This is authoritative military history that reads like a novel.” Harold Holzer, co-chairman of the US Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and co-author of The Confederate Image
“Chronicling this multifaceted story of the Confederacy’s secret hope, Tom Chaffin has answered many of the mysteries surrounding the H.L. Hunley. With an extensive examination of primary documents, he has taken on the mythologizers, offering instead an extraordinary contribution to historical understanding.” Orville Vernon Burton, author of The Age of Lincoln
“This lively account of the first submarine to sink an opposing ship is an excellent niche history…Sampling from letters, articles and memoirs, the author succeeds in separating facts from legend in this engrossing examination of a pioneering weapon of war.” Publishers Weekly
“Avoiding uninformed speculation, Chaffin crafts an exciting narrative of an important innovation in military technology and the political considerations that shaped its development. Insightful and intriguing, meriting a place toward the front of the squadron of Civil War, naval and aquatic archeology titles.” Kirkus Reviews, (starred review)
“Barrett Whitener keeps himself in the background, letting the obscure story be the main character. He builds the archiving of the ship’s contents to a swell of sentiment as he describes the finding of a lucky twenty-dollar gold piece on the corpse of one of the Rebel sailors. As enlightening as the performance may be, listeners—although well stocked with the author’s description—will find themselves yearning to see the Civil War contraption.” AudioFile