Fire and Thunder: Exploits of the Confederate States Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)RAIMONDO LURAGHI, University of Genoa, Italy. As clearly stated in the preface, the objective of the author is extension. In other words, he is not looking for in-depth research but for the building of a complete scene, where no episode, no personality, no ship is forgotten or overlooked, so that his book would not 'suffer from a lack of detail concerning a particular action or an intriguing personality' (pp. x). A tremendous task, indeed, one that required painstaking reading, unlimited patience, and an almost uncanny attention to details.... Now, the question is: does Campbell succeed in achieving his goal? Is the information supplied always correct and reliable? This reviewer believes that the answer to both questions should be positive. The landscape that the author wanted to build is here: wide, informative, and as complete as human effort can make it. Direct quotations are well chosen and almost always of primary interest. As for the correctness of information, one has to congratulate Campbell because mistakes are few-mainly mis-prints. Instead the book deserves high praise because of its splendid collection of illustrations. Only researchers who, like this reviewer, know how difficult and frustrating the task of locating photographs of the Confederate Navy may be, can appreciate the magnificent patrimony of illustrations that are offered here to readers. Summing up, Campbell has succeeded in putting together a very interesting and useful book that deserves careful attention from anybody interested in the tragic and glorious story of the Confederate States Navy. From the "Journal of Southern History," vol. 65, No. 2, May 1999

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