"Your Favorite books about Ironclads" Topic

Title says it all. What are some of your favorite history books about Ironclads?

Mr. Lincoln's Navy(dennis j. ringle-taught me about the transition from rag wagon to smoker and helped a lot with my Space 1889 campaign-stopped a lot of player debates.

Oscar Parkes' Battleships of the RN. About more than just ironclads, obviously, but the early designs are something wonderful.

Anything focused on Ironclads in general, rather than just American ones?

Time Life's ACW series offers "The Blockade" and "The Coastal War" … the accounts aren't terribly deep, but then the subject is vast and the pictures sure are pretty. They were my springboard to finding more detailed books elsewhere.

The escapades of the Albemarle were just inspiring.

Okay, and the best read probably has to go to "The Monitor" by James De Kay. It focuses on one ship, but the story of its creation to its deployment to its loss is just amazingly twisted, with forceful egos clashing and so many things nearly not being brought together in the nick of time.

"Civil War Ironclads", by William H. Roberts. Interesting work on the overall US ironclad building program. "Mr Lincolns Brown Water Navy", Gary D. Joiner. A good history of the first US Ironclads, the Mississippi Squadron. And for a taste of the CSA Navy, "Iron Afloat: The Story of the Confederate Armorclads". William N. Still Jr. An interesting study of the overall design, construction and operations of the CSA Ironclads. Must admit my favorite would be Joiners work on the Brown Water navy. I am partial to the campaigns along the Mississippi basin.

I really enjoyed Wilson´s Ironclads in Action, despite it sounding more like a porn film than a serious study of naval issues. It was written in 1895 (from what I remember!), and is quite well written.
Right now I am reading a very interesting account of the Battle of Yalu- The Japan-China war : the naval battle of Haiyang by Jukichi Inouye. It was written just after the war, but the author, who is Japanese, is less than objective. However, with Yalu, there isn´t much to be objective about when it comes to the Chinese.
I also have two others on the Sino-Japanese war by the same author, so I am looking forward to those.

There are many modern books on the subject that I enjoy, for example Conway´s from 1860-1905, and I loved Birth of the Battleship by John Beeler and Brown´s Warrior to Dreadnought. All great stuff!

One of my long-time favorites was "Ironclads of the Civil War"(American Heritage)by Frank Donovan.

If you really want to know what life was like in an ironclad, try "The Monitor Chronicles : One Sailor's Account", which is the letters of the ship's Third Engineer George S. Geer.

I agree with John, I too have a soft spot for Ironclads of the Civil War. It was probably responsible for my love of all things naval.

I also forgot another book written during the early ironclad period, Our Ironclads, by Edward Reed. Reed, one of the foremost naval architects of his era. He designed the early ironclads of the RN and this book, from 1869, gives great insight into the design philosophies of the day.

H W Wilson, "Ironclads in Action"

J Greene & A. Massignani "Ironclads at War"

Oscar Parkes 'British Battleships'

'Civil War Navies' by Silverstone. Not a book to 'read' of course, and it covers more than just ironclads, but full of essential information for wargamers. If I had to save just one ACW naval book from a fire or other disaster then this would be it.

"The Monitor Boys" is a fun read about the "career" of the USS Monitor. It's derived from the same letters that make up "The Monitor Chronicles", but includes a wider perspective on the ship.

But I wouldn't buy it as a general reference, just as a fun deep-dive into that single topic.