Porter Broyles’s Reviews > Clad in Iron: The American Civil War and the Challenge of British Naval Power > Status Update

Such a hard book to evaluate.

The writing is decent. The information is great. But the organization and overall flow is lacking.

Part of me wants to give this book 4 stars and another 2 stars... never really had a like-dislike quite like this one.

The more I read in this book the more I'm enjoying it. I despised the start and didn't think I'd finish this book, but it is growing on me.

His coverage of the Monitor vs Virginia (aka Merrimack) is somewhat sparse, but for this books purposes he's adequate. I have no doubt that I'll finish this now (unless it takes a really bad turn.)

The more I read of this book the better it gets. It is one of those books that I think could have used a better editor who encouraged formatting/organizing the book differently. There isn't a clear purpose in the book---no central thesis. Thus the chapters are not as well crafted as they could be---often missing a coherent point.

The history is otherwise comprehensive and not poorly written (eg its readable).

Still not an easy read. No clear thesis for the book. Drops you into the subject and hopes you reach the right conclusion.

Key take aways:

Wood ships "Best Defense is a Good Offense"--sink the other ship before they sink you.

Iron Clad "Best Offense is a Good Defense" -- If they can't sink you, then you have all day to take care of them.

France scared England.
Early iron clads were often not very sea worthy.

This is going to be an intense read. The subject was derived from the authors PhD dissertation... Which means it was written for a target audience which isn't the average reader .

Still the subject of one that I love. Naval history during the Civil War and challenging or views of how the English Navy was involved.

Should be fascinating if not to difficult