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Trade in Clyde Built: Blockade Runners, Cruisers and Armoured Rams: Preface by Tom Devine for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
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Graham combines the talents of good historical detection with the art of storytelling. --BBC History Magazine
it makes a good read --International Journal of Maritime History
An enthralling account of a remarkable but till now neglected episode of Scottish history. --The Scotsman
it makes a good read --International Journal of Maritime History
An enthralling account of a remarkable but till now neglected episode of Scottish history. --The Scotsman
Product Description
The Civil War of 1861-65 was one of the defining moments in the history of America. The Blockade of the US Southern ports during the war is well known. Less well known, however, is the role that Scotland played in this aspect of the conflict - almost 40 per cent of the ships were Scottish. This should not be surprising, however: at the time the fastest ships in the world were Clydebuilt, so it was natural that the Confederacy should turn to Scotland in their desperate bid to beat the tightening Northern Blockade. The ideological conflict unfolding between American anti-slavery supporters and anti-abolitionists also spread to the other side of the Atlantic and forced the Scots to examine their own values, polarising opinions and forcing the individual to reassess their position concerning basic human rights.Using contemporary accounts and individual case studies, combined, "Clyde Built" presents a full and fascinating account of Scotland's involvement in the American Civil War Blockade, an involvement which almost certainly prolonged the conflict by several years.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book paints a fascinating picture of Scotland's little known involvement in the cataclysmic American Civil War. During the four years of the war, ruthless Scottish businessmen built and operated ships which secretly challenged the Union's crippling blockade of Confederate ports. Incredible fortunes were made, and as Graham cogently argues, the profits from this morally questionable trade contributed substantially to the growth and eventual dominance of the Clyde's shipbuilding industry. Although rigorously researched, the book occasionally reads like an adventure story as it relates the daring, albeit unscrupulous, activities of its protagonists. The author does not ignore the striking irony of this - that huge profits were being made by providing a lifeline to the Confederacy, and arguably prolonging the war, in a country which was vociferous in its condemnation of slavery. At a time when many in this country have strong feelings about our involvement in an 'American War' in the Middle East, the book also has thought-provoking contemporary resonance concerning the hypocrisy of war. Readers can make up their own mind about that, but I would thoroughly recommend this book and believe that it represents an important contribution to the history of nineteenth-century Scotland.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Anyone who has read Amdrew McQueen's book of 1924 "Echoes of Old Clyde Paddle-Wheels" will be intrigued (and fascinated) by the later history of the purchases of "The Emperor of China". I was particularly interested by the sketch of the "Fingal" and her later history as a Union warship. To anyone interested in the Clyde Steamers of the mid-19th. century, when these boats were the fastest in the world, this book is a well researched and, I think, accurate asset.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Civilwar enlightenment
9 April 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is one of those books that fills in the information you wanted from a defferent presective. I have books on the blockcade runners,but this is from the Scottish builders view. I like the book it fills in some blanks for me. Good specs and builder imformation.
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