"Under the Blue Pennant" is a rare, firsthand account of naval life during the Civil War. For that alone, it would merit recognition, but it is also a well-written, fascinating history of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Its author, John Grattan, served as a clerk to the Squadron's commander, which provided him an intimate glimpse into both major strategic maneuvers and into the daily life of the Civil War sailor on the Union side. Many modern military experts view today's joint operations between all services as a new approach to war. Grattan's account provides solid proof that the Union's leaders were planning and executing combined operations all along. Grattan recorded his experiences and observations in a clear, cohesive prose. What Grattan leaves out in background detail, is ably provided in editor Robert John Schneller's excellent introduction. Although quite lengthy, the introduction places Grattan's experiences into the overall context of the Civil War. "Under the Blue Pennant" helps feeling a gaping hole of Civil War literature by wonderfully illustrating the vital but long neglected naval side of the war.

It is frustrating finding good books on the Navy during the Civil War, most everything published looks at operations on land. So it was fun surprise to find this book the other day. Grattan had a great "view" of the navy -- both its men (of high rank and low) and its operations. One gets an insight into life on ships for officers and enlisted, which is almost unheard of in Civil War publishing. Grattan is also candid in his opinions and one appreciates the frank assessments he makes.

I was surprised at the length of the editor's introduction (50 pages) -- but it too was a pleasant surprise. Schneller's commentary is informed and well worth reading. I am glad to see that there is a publisher that still lets editors write long intros when warranted.

The book has good maps and loads of illustrations, most all of which I have never seen before. The editor works at the U.S. Naval Historical Center, it appears he must know where all the good photos, paintings and woodcuts are kept.

Bottom line -- Grattan and Schneller have teamed up after more than 130 years to produce a most fascinating book. If you are looking for something new and interesting on the Civil War, you will love their collaboration!

The book covers quite a bit of the build up before combat. The begining covers some interesting history of the Gulf and it's oil production. This helps us fully understand what brought us to war there in the 90's. Most of it concerns operational/longistical aspects of the Sheild/Storm. I would have given it 5 stars for glossy pages, more photos, and more detailed operational descriptions of the navy ship's day to day action in the gulf, especially the Battleships. I've read some of these stories in other books. One thing I can say is that it changed my mind on a lot of things that I incorrectly remembered about watching the war on TV.

This is an overall thorough, but very dry account of the US Navy's involvement in the Persian Gulf War. The authors, as part of the Naval Historical Center, obviously had incredible access to firsthand sources, and it shows. It does offer some good insights and presents a "warts and all" perspective at times.

The book opens with a brief and useful historical overview of the Navy's presence in the Gulf and the run up to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. While the story of how the US Military arrived at its plan to fight the war is interesting, the account of the logistics of the buildup is somewhat tedious. I realize logistics are the backbone of any military operation; but it just wasn't that interesting except as part of an official history.

The authors deserve credit for addressing the problems the Navy faced: a lack of integration with the other services, infighting among the Generals (Army and USAF) and Admirals, and an ill-conceived mine laying operations that cost two pilots their lives, for example. It avoids being "whiney" about slights during the air campaign from an Air Force dominated air warfare command structure, yet is somewhat bogged down in details about tasking orders and control systems.

This book will probably only be interesting to the more die hard Naval historian and students of Joint Military Operations for lessons learned. For a good account of modern Naval Warfare, I would be more inclined to recommend Admiral Sandy Woodward's "One Hundred Days" about the Falklands War.

I actually have a paper copy published prior to this one by GPO (I think). If anyone is worried about price, they may want to investigate purchasing that edition. Great book. It's nice to read about the Naval part of the war instead of just the Army part. Notice in most books, there isn't even a map showing the gulf itself - just the land masses!