"Entertaining from beginning to end. For fans of O'Brian and Forester, it is a welcome addition to the lore of navies whose sailors braved storms and shrapnel in a war for America's destiny." -- Wall Street Journal On June 19, 1864, just off the coast of France, one of the most dramatic naval battles in history took place. On a clear day with windswept skies, the dreaded Confederate raider Alabama faced the Union warship Kearsarge in an all-or-nothing fight to the finish, the outcome of which would effectively end the threat of the Confederacy on the high seas. Award-winning and bestselling historians Phil Keith and Tom Clavin introduce some of the crucial but historically overlooked players in the deciding clash . Readers will sail aboard the Kearsarge as Winslow embarks for Europe with a set of simple orders from the secretary of the navy: "Travel to the uttermost ends of the earth, if necessary, to find and destroy the Alabama ." "An accomplished history of an iconic battle." -- Kirkus Reviews "Naval history buffs will be enthralled.

" -- Publishers Weekly.