Iron Dawn

Starred review from September 15, 2016
The former editor-in-chief of American Heritage revisits an epochal battle in naval history.To some, the Monitor appeared "a mere speck, a hat upon the water," but she was "the most complicated machine that had ever been built," a combination of steam and iron whose revolutionary design so confounded naval architects that many doubted she would even float. Instead, when she appeared at Virginia's Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862, the day after the Confederacy's iron-plated Merrimack had already sunk two Union wooden ships, she preserved the Union blockade and immediately rendered every navy in the world obsolete. Popular historian Snow (I Invented the Modern Age: The Rise of Henry Ford, 2013, etc.) builds toward these days of savage battle (thousands watched from shore), telling each ironclad's story through the men who conceived, financed, sponsored, captained, and sailed it. Especially memorable are the author's tightly focused profiles of the desperate Confederate Naval Secretary Stephen Mallory and his harried counterpart, Gideon Welles; indefatigable Connecticut entrepreneur and lobbyist Cornelius Bushnell, who championed the Monitor's innovative designer, the brilliant, prickly John Ericsson; John Dahlgren, "the father of naval ordnance"; and the Merrimack's squabbling co-creators, John Brooke and John Porter; Franklin Buchanan, the Merrimack's aggressive, first-day captain, and the Monitor's skipper, John Worden, who emerged from the four-hour battle sightless in one eye. Snow's energetic account encompasses issues large and small, including discussions of arms and armament; the origin of the word "splinter"; the battle's inconclusive end; a Southern joke of the day ("Iron-plated?" "Sir, our navy is barely contem-plated"); Lincoln's special interest in the Union's ironclad; the difference between shells and solid shot, the "mystery" of the Merrimack's name; and the enthusiastic Monitor fever that swept the relieved, almost giddy North. A few notable naval battles changed the course of wars, even history, but the clash at Hampton Roads transformed the nature of warfare itself and offered a glimpse of the "grim modernity" Snow vividly captures.

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June 1, 2016
A revolutionary iron warship built hastily to counter the Confederacy, which had constructed an iron fort with ten heavy guns on the hull of a captured Union ship called the "Merrimack", the "Monitor" didn't just save the Union cause. It changed naval history, with that mighty sea power, Great Britain, discontinuing work on all wooden ships as soon as word of the battle got out. From the popular historian who worked at the "American Heritage magazine" for nearly four decades, with 17 years as editor in chief.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 11, 2017
Historian Snow (I Invented the Modern Age) captures the drama of the most well-known naval confrontation of the Civil War in this swift-moving narrative. Snow argues that the creation and immediate deployment of ironclad vessels symbolized the modernity of the war. The idea for these new ships evolved with South Carolina’s secession in December 1860. After Maj. Robert Anderson of the U.S. Army opted to hold Fort Sumter in defiance of South Carolina’s demands, enterprising Charleston carpenters built an iron-reinforced floatable gun platform to blast away at Sumter. Then the race was on for both sides to create a steam-powered, metal-clad ship that would be nearly indestructible. Snow neatly sets the scene for these events, ratcheting up the tension of this early arms race that resulted in the March 1862 confrontation between the Monitor and the Merrimack at Hampton Roads. Crisp characterizations bring immediacy to the story, especially thanks to the affecting letters between Monitor paymaster William Keeler and his wife, Anna. Though Snow’s conclusions about the importance of the battle aren’t novel and his historical lens is narrowly focused, this is an accessible and enjoyable account. Illus. Agent: Emma Sweeney, Emma Sweeney Agency.