Civil War Navies, 1855-1883 (U.S. Navy Warship)

Rating:
Summary: Finally - a "Jane's" for the Civil War!
Review: This book has practically everything you need to know about Civil War naval ships in an easy to read "Jane's" type format - sorted into categories such as armored vessals, unarmored steam vessals, sailing ships, etc. and listing tonnage, armaments, complement, and a brief service record for each ship. As far as I can tell, the research is impeccible - quite a few photos never seen before. A real labor of live. The book is a little overpriced at $50, especially since it does not include other countries navies, but is really the only resouce of its kind for Civil War naval buffs.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent supplementary book
Review: This book is an ideal companion to other histories of the Civil War. Its title, however, is a bit misleading. It is a book about ships, not about navies. It gives the vital statistics and brief service records for all the Union and Confederate ships but contains little else. Its real value is that it "puts a face" to the ship names in most civil war histories.