Osprey books has published three books on warships of the American Civil War:

CONFEDERATE IRONCLADS
I...bought the Osprey book primarily for the color plates. The text is not only skimpy, but it is also shot through with historical, technical, and typographical errors, small and large -- a rant for another day. Unfortunately, ...the plates are just as poorly done, if not more so.

The book provides a series of very nicely detailed paintings that (with a few exceptions) unfortunately bear little or no similarity to the actual ironclads they purport to depict. Reviewed by Frank Whitaker on the Ironclads discussion list.

The book is pretty good, but also pretty slim. The drawings don't seem to be to a consistent scale. I measured the Albermarle and the Fredricksburg, and they came out to 1:360 and 1:340 respectively. I measured those two because I had their measurements handy. I was dissapointed in the book. I thought it would be a more complete coverage than it was. Comments by Orin Palmer on the Ironclads discussion list.

UNION MONITORS

MISSISSIPPI RIVER GUNBOATS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
Frank Whitaker writes: "As a particularly harsh critic of the past Osprey book on the Confederate Ironclads (which was written and illustrated by the same people), my expectations were markedly low. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised to find no glaring errors on my first flip through the book.

I have not spent any time with the book yet (as of early April, 2002), but I found the illustrations to be interesting and fairly accurate (within the limits of my admittedly incomplete knowledge). The cover is graced with the artist's impression of the ever-mysterious Queen of the West, done in a cutaway version as viewed from the forward port quarter. The artist appears to have based his version upon the crude contemporary watercolor showing the Queen in Confederate hands, which at least demonstrates that he did some basic research this time around). The other illustrations are reasonably well done, though I find many of the color choices to be somewhat suspect.

I wouldn't look for any great revelations in the text, and I would insist on corroboration for any information you find in the various charts. The bottom line? -- given the moderate price, I though that this Osprey book was worth getting, if only for the illustrations. Reviewed by Frank Whitaker on the Ironclads discussion list.

Andrew Hall writes:My copy of Mississippi River Gunboats of the American Civil War 1861-65 arrived today. I have not read it in detail, but at first pass it is disappointing. I had not bought the two previous companion volumes on Union monitors and Confederate ironclads due primarily to concerns expressed on the Ironclads list, but I felt like I had to get this one, since it's close to my own interest area of Western Rivers steamboats.

All in all, these lapses (discussed at some length) strongly suggest that the author and illustrator of Osprey's book haven't a clue about American riverboats of the mid-19th century. I know it may seem unfair to be so critical of a book that I haven't read through in detail. But the fact is that there are already comprehensive, well-researched reference works that cover the construction, armament and operational histories of these craft.

What sets, or should set, Osprey books apart from more traditional publications is the inclusion of detailed and accurate original illustrations not available anywhere else. As a reference work (this book) is redundant at best, and in terms of illustrations it simply doesn't measure up. Skip it. Andrew Hall on the Ironclads discussion list.

NAVY GRAY tells the story of a backwater of the war where very little military action occurred. Maxine Turner took an old graduate thesis and fleshed it out for publication in book form, so it can be a bit dry at points. She does a good job of describing the CSS Chattahoochee, recounting the frustration of its crew (most notably, its first Captain, Catesby ap Roger Jones, skipper of a poorly-constructed, obsolete ship landlocked on a treacherous inland river) and its tragic explosion.

Much of the book describes the herculean obstacles that had to be overcome to build the ships on the Chattahoochee (and elsewhere, of course). It also discusses the many reasons why the federal navy never made a grab for Columbus, despite that city's important role as a Confederate manufacturing center. Reviewed by Frank Whitaker on the Ironclads discussion list.

IF IT FLOATS, PUT A CANNON ON IT. Dan Richardson and Lamar Roberts, Gray and Blue Naval Museum, Vicksburg MS. 2000. This book covers the story of the navies based on the models at the Gray and Blue Naval Museum. As of March 2001, this book is out of print.

Chris Salander says of the book: "I had a chance to look at this book at a convention. It is black and white, with plastic ring binding. The book is thick and covers many ships, including a lot of obscure ones. It has photographs of large models of each ACW ship, with at least a page of details on it. This is the poor man's substitute for Toby Gibbon's Warships and Naval Battles of the Civil War, providing more technical details of each ship, and more views, but less color.

HARDLUCK IRONCLAD, The Sinking and Salvage of the Cairo. Edwin C. Bearss, Louisiana State University Press. Revised edition, 1980. The birth, life, death, and re-birth of the Ironclad Cairo. The tale of her salvage is as interesting as the story of her life.

DUEL BETWEEN THE FIRST IRONCLADS William C. Davis, Louisiana State University Press. 1975. A classic account of the battle of Hampton Roads, both days. Covers all that went before and the subsequent short careers of the U.S.S. MONITOR and the C.S.S VIRGINIA (The Merrimack). Taken mainly from primary sources, I think it is quite good. Certainly it is easy to read. I caught a few typos, but nothing to make me doubt the basic research of the book.

IRONCLADS AT WAR, the Origin and Development of the Armored Warship, 1854-1891. Jack Greene and Alessandro Massignani, Combined Publishing 1998, $34.95. A very good book with 1-2 minor typos (Parrot rifles were NOT breach loading!). I has some good coverage of the ACW. but this book shines in it`s discussion of European, S.American, and Oriental ironclad development. A must for any naval gamer who wants to take Ironclad gaming beyond the ACW. This review by Chuck Duggie.

The Confederate Navy: A pictoral history by Philip Van Doren Stern. Da Capo Press, New York, NY, 1992. ISBN 0-306-80488-3. $17.95. 256pp. Good overview, lavishly illustrated with period engravings and a few photos. I recommend this one for anyone interested in the ACW afloat.This review by Michael Llaneza

Naval Warfare (part of the Civil War Chronicles) by John Wideman. Metro Books. Friedman/Fairfax. New York, NY. 1997. ISBN 1-56799-424-5. Another narrative with some good conclusions. This is very well illustrated, with some original paintings that are very striking, notably the CSS Virginia steaming away from the burning USS Congress. There are also good color reproductions of period paintings, notably one of McGraths rendition of Alabama vs Kearsarge. Highly recommended. This review by Michael Llaneza

Warships and naval battles of the Civil War by Gibbons. Gellery Books, New York. 1989. ISBN 0-8317-9301-5. 250 original color illustrations, most ships are illustrated as are the important battles. This is a very good reference and painting guide (even if the colors aren't quite accurate, who can say what they were supposed to be ?). Get this immediately.This review by Michael Llaneza

The Naval History of the Civil War by Adm David D. Porter (yes, that Porter). Dover, Mineola NY. 1998 (unabridged). 864pp. Admiral Porter has an invaluable viewpoint, several axes to grind, and a very literate writing style that reminded me very much of Churchill; likewise as with Churchill, the author's political motives must be allowed for. The text is accompanied by 205 engravings and includes the text of many documents (mostly supporting Porter's position for some reason). The orders of battle should be second only to the official histories (which I have not checked this against). This is $38 well spent. This review by Michael Llaneza

Michael Llaneza also points out that there are a number of excellent first-hand accounts in the 4-book series "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War". I have these books and as David Rushing once said: "If you can't sleep, read 'Battles & Leaders' - you will soon be snoring!" I will try to find time to inventory these works and provide a list of ACW naval articles in them. The volumes contain articles by participants in the Civil War and were originally printed in CENTURY Magazine in the late 1800s.

North South Naval Images by W.R. "Bill"Atteridge. Self published 1995. 50pp, $14.50 (in 1995). There is a series of resin and wood display model ships of the Civil War, and the illustrations and plans for each model have been collected into this booklet. I got my copy at the Gray and Blue Naval Museum 1102 Washington St. Vicksburg MS 39180. this is certainly not the last word on Civil War ship drawings, but the price is modest and I find the drawings and photos of the models sometimes much clearer than the period photos of the real ships. Of obvious value to anyone who wished to scratchbuild ships or modify existing models. Availaible from the publisher at: Arcadia-Craft, Rt. 2 box 970, Arcadia, LA 71001.

Ships Versus Shore, by Dave Page, Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville TN, 1994. Subtitled, "Civil War engagements along southern shores and rivers" this ought to be in the library of any irocnclad gamer. I just got this book, although it was everywhere at Historicon 1999. Very easy to read, entertaining and informative. In addition to history, there is a good deal of "this is how you get there in your car and this is what you can see there now" in this book.

IRON AFLOAT: The Story of the Confederate Armorclads, by William N. Still, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia SC, reprinted 1985 (Originally published in the late 1950s I believe). Another absolutely neccesary book!. I was impressed by how informative and easy to digest this book is. As of the end of the 20th century, this is the definitive story of the Southern Ironclads.

GUNS ON THE WESTERN WATERS: The Story of River Gunboats in the Civil War, H. Allen Gosnell, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA, 1993. Predominantly a history done by quoting period writers. Kind of like all of the "D-Day through the eyes of the grunts" books that came out in 1994. Interesting and useful. None of this ocean-going stuff, this book sticks to the river fighting. Well written and highly reccomended!

Warships of the Civil War Navies, by Paul Silverstone, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 1989. If you are going to be able to get only one book on the navies of the Civil War, I would get this one. If you can get it, because it is out of print. It contains 271 pages, and is full of every class of armored, unarmored, and downright ugly ship that was ever: bought, captured, sold, seized or built. All in period illustrations, all in black and white.

Paul Silverstone reissued this book, very slightly expanded in 2000, but I believe that it is again out of print.

The OFFICIAL RECORDS Of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion is a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate navies published under the direction of the Secretary of Navy, The Honorable H.A. Herbert, Lieut. Commander Richard Bush, Superintendent of Naval War records, U.S. Navy, and Mr. Robert H. Woods in 1894. All volumes have been scanned from originals held by the Cornell University Library.

If you know what this is, you will be suitably impressed. If you don't, the "Official Records" (OR for brevity) is an attempt to publish all reports and documents about the American Civil War that could be found in the national archives. It runs to well over a hundred volumes for the armies alone, and many more for the navies. For over a century you had to go to a major library to look at these volumes. Several years ago, the army records were released on CD-ROM for $89, and probably the navy records were availiable also. Now Cornel University has scanned them all and posted them on the world wide web. Here is the link to the Navy records: http://moa.cit.cornell.edu/MOA/MOA-JOURNALS2/OFRE.html

Civil War Naval Chronology 1861-1865, compiled by the Naval History Division, The Department of the Navy. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC 1971. The entire war afloat, day by day. An entry for everything. The only problem for me is that in many cases, trivia seems to occupy the same space as quite major battles. In addition to the chronology, there are maps, diagrams and illustrations scattered through the work. About every 3rd or 4th page has some type of illustration, period or modern. Some areas of the work are all photos or drawings, page after page. These fire my interest in the period. All illustrations (including some modern ones that I know were originally done in color) are reproduced in black and white.

The work is divided into five roman-numeralled sections (one for each year of the war), 12 appendices, and an index. Each section's pages start over at the start of the year, so I have never added up the total pages. The appendices alone are over 400 pages. Well over 1000 pp. would be my guess for the total size of this puppy. I received my copy as a gift from a gaming buddy about a quarter-century ago. I have no idea how much one would sell for today.

Seacoast Fortifications of the United States by Emanuel Raymond Lewis, United States Naval Instutute, Annalpolis MD 1993. This book is concerned (as the title indicates) with the forts along the American coast. Since many of these works were seized by the South and later had to be retaken with great effor by the Union, the text and photographs are of use to those interested in the Civil War afloat.

Ironclads and Paddlers by Ian Marshall is a book of watercolor paintings on ships and naval subjects. Only a handful of the paintings are of Civil War Ironclads or gunboats, but this is definately worth some study. I also have a previous work (Armored Ships) by Mr. Marshall but it has no civil war Ironclads in it. Good for atmosphere and color, these paintings come with good explanatory notes and sometimes some black and white detail drawings. This is probably out of print, but I got my copy through the U.S. Naval Institute at a 25% discount off the $34.95 list price several years ago.

WORKS OF FICTION

Caleb Pettengill USN, George F. Elliot, Julian Messner Inc. New York 1956
Kind of a "Horatio Hornblower as a U.S. Naval officer in the ACW". If you don't know what that means, you don't read naval fiction!

Blue Hurricane, F. van Wyck Mason, J.B. Lippincott company, Philadelphia 1954
The campaigns along the western rivers. Out of print, as is the above selection. I got my copies at a local used book dealer. I have seen both on BIBLIOFIND on the web.

Iron Maidens, Steven Sanders, Broadfoot Publishing, Wilmington NC, 1989. A fictional account of a little known ironclad ship and her builder during Civil War. (Has anyone read this book and if so, would you care to comment on it?)