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Book offers engaging account of ship and the men behind its design Book offers engaging account of ship and the men behind its design"The H.L. Hunley : The Secret Hope of the Confederacy" The H.L. Hunley was a submarine designed and built by the Confederates during the Civil War as a secret tactical weapon to counter ships of the Federal naval blockade against Southern ports. As such, it was one of the first military submarines ever designed and also one of the most unique of weapons employed in the Civil War, plus an amazing work of technology for the time. The designer of this submarine and its namesake, Mr. Hunley himself, was one of three men with
Hunley's dream and his boyish sense of wonder over things technological are now matched by similar traits in historian Tom Chaffin, who has through primary-source documents and new physical research on the recently reclaimed ship itself brought together the grand and sweeping story of the Hunley's origins and the creative, brave, men behind it. When the remains of the Hunley were brought up from the floor of the Charleston Harbor in 2000, the public was moved towards the exciting story of the Hunley as were professional historians and researchers and a number of books were written about the Hunley, but few went deep enough into the history of the ship and the men behind its design. Chaffin has corrected this fault in other books on the Hunley by tracing H.L. Hunley's life and his associations back via what paper-trail was left of such and through careful research about the ship itself and its time in service he has crafted an engaging book as powerful as a novel about this rare feat of engineering. Even more impressive, the human side of H.L. Hunley's life and the lives of others involved in the design and crewing of the submarine are rendered in a way that draws the reader in with a close understanding of life during the Civil War in the South. Tom Chaffin is a writer of impressive talents with a ready wit and a careful, studied, approach to historiography. Without ever making his account dry or overly academic, he includes enough historical information in this book to please professionals while still making it very readable for the non-expert who may not have any background on the Hunley or its time period. The story told here is a very rich one that embodies the best of American spirit: a man of means wanting to help his nation, new and untested technology being employed at a crucial time, brave military men determined to support the cause they believed in no matter what risks. Chaffin's publishers, Hill and Wang, did a most impressive job of putting together a first-class design for this book and the hardcover edition is a sight to behold. At times, I was truly amazed by Chaffin's depth of research: not only are the details of the Hunley's design and construction, the life of H.L. Hunley himself, and other immediate factors involved covered in astute detail, but plenty of background on the concept of submarine warfare in theory and application is also brought to the table. The Hunley sunk no less than three times in its operational life yet had it not sunk in the Charleston Harbor the third time, it would have possibly remained the "secret hope" it had been planned on being for the Confederate naval effort. Certainly, a boat able to sink Federal ships from below the water's surface would have made for a scary and effective counter to the Federal maritime blockade. As I wrote in a previous review about Roger Durham's book about Fort McAllister and the sea-based struggle for the port of Savannah, the Civil War at sea and in coastal rivers was every bit as dangerous and extensive a fight as land battles, even if the land battles and Grant and Lee's armies do get more of the attention of historians. The Hunley, though in the end tragic in its loss, did first prove itself a capable weapon with the sinking of the Federal warship the USS Housatonic in the Charleston Harbor. Few stories in the chronicles of the Civil War are in so many different ways as engaging as the story of the Hunley and the men behind it. I would encourage anyone interested in the Civil War, Southern history, or maritime history to pick up this fine book.
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