Civil War Ironclads: The U.S. Navy and Industrial Mobilization (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology) First Edition

I have mixed views on this book and first discuss the good. The information that is provided in the book is generally new and not covered in other sources. It deals primarily with the construction of the Monitor, Passaic class ironclads, Canonicus (called Tippecanoe class in the book) class ironclads, and Casco class ironclads. Provided is information on the how the designs were created, contracts allocated, project management, cost overuns, design changes, postponements, and resulting lawsuits. Also provided is the information on the interactions and activities of the main people involved in the process such as Ericsson, Welles, Stilmer, Fox, etc. and the contractors that built the ships. The book does not cover operational details of the ships.Now the bad. Much of the book discusses the many postponements and cost overuns that resulted due to the design changes to the Canonicus and Casco class monitors. However, the actual problems and fixes are barely mentioned. A bit more technical information should have been provided because it would assisted the reader in understanding the reasons for the changes and the time required to make them. A more major problem is that the book provides just brief mention of the design and constuction of all the other non-monitor types, which constituted about half of the ironclads in the U.S. Navy. Missing is all but the briefest mention of the New Ironsides, Keokuk, Galena, Roanoke, two-gun monitors, and the various assortment of non-monitor river ironclads.The book is titled "Civil War Ironclads." A much smaller subtitle that is on the cover but not bookend is "The U.S. Navy and Industrial Mobiliation." As discussed above, the focus of the book is more narrow than this. The title should have been: "Civil War Monitors"

There actually was a water born element to the Civil War despite what fans of Grant and Lee might think. I highly recommend this a piece to fill in a blank hole in the puzzle.

Fantastic book with great details about things you never knew about the Civil War and the shipbuilding industry back then. A necessary piece of scholarship. Very readable, too. A treasured book for any historian's library.

Very boreing book, but I love the historical detail. Appreciate very much the effort that went into the research for this book.

A valuable and detailed case study of the application of Northern industrial might toward the defeat of the rebellion. Its sheds important light on the collaboration of government, science and industry during the Civil War, a subject that deserves much greater attention.

Interesting and informative. Sadly, no mention of what happened with the shallow draft monitors which leave the stage looking like a total failure.

Concise and to the point but not enough illustrations of the ships a good referance work.

I truly enjoyed this book. Mainly because the history of technology and industrialization is one of my hobbies. It should probably be called Civil War Monitors.This is not an operational history. Do not be fooled. Instead it is a concise 200pg history of how the US Navy and the ship building industry mobilized for building ironclad monitors. Especially interesting for its' discussions of inflation, labor rates, and how striving for perfection ruined the building program.A must read for program managers, industrial engineers, acquisition professionals, and anyone interested in the history of industrial mobilization.