"Countless books have been written about the Civil War's land battles and campaigns, but few have covered the war's naval history as well as author Michael Laramie's excellent book on the combined Army-Navy operations on North Carolina's 300-mile coastline from 1861-1865."-- Military Officer "The narrative presentation of the material strikes a nearly perfect balance between descriptive military detail and popular accessibility (a craft undoubtedly honed during the creation of the author's award-winning work on Colonial-era land and naval campaigns). a fitting candidate (arguably the best overview so far written) for first-line introduction to the Civil War in eastern North Carolina. General readers will find Laramie's narrative style highly engaging, and the author's comprehensive treatment of campaigns and battles possesses more than enough detail to attract experienced Civil War readers wanting to learn more about the topic."-- Civil War Books and Authors "Outside of Virginia, no other state saw as much military activity during the Civil War as North Carolina. That is particularly true of the coastal regions of the Tar Heel State, east of Raleigh and the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad that was a vital lifeline for Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Several excellent books chronicle specific episodes of the conflict along North Carolina's 300 miles of coastline--Chris Fonvielle's The Wilmington Campaign: Last Rays of Departing Hope , Rod Gragg's Confederate Goliath , and James L. Walker, Jr.

's Rebel Gibraltar all come to mind. Michael G. Laramie's new offering is a welcome addition to those standards of the state's Civil War history bookshelves.Laramie does a fine job of telling the story of what may be one of the most important yet neglected theaters of the war. He weaves stories of personal courage with an analysis of how evolving technology impacted how the war was fought. Rifled naval cannon were countered with sand-walled forts that absorbed the pounding blockading ships delivered. Telegraph lines made communication quicker and easier, and trains made moving troops from one battlefield to the next impossibly fast. All the while, the story never loses sight of the heart of the tale, the men who braved rifle and cannon against daunting odds to win.

Michael G. Laramie has produced a fine book that spotlights America's most deadly conflict as it was fought where the tide meets the shore in North Carolina."-- Carolina Chronicles.