Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)An honest history with lively, competent, & engaging writing and perfect photographs & illustrations!
This was acquired on our great trip to Baltimore in 2009, and the tour through the ship itself was a wonderful experience (after having read Six Frigates, by Ian Toll - without which, this event probably would not have had the profound impact that it did).
Flaws are seemingly inevitable. In this instance, Arcadia Publishing was screwed by their (outside, I'll assume) nitwit printer, who dreamed up a Rube Goldberg page format of tiny half-inch wide white borders that flank paragraphs 5 ¼ inches in width.
The eyestrain created by this moronic design - compounded by the authors' mistake of written overly-long paragraphs too closely positioned to each other - is considerable. It is like trying to focus on the "zig-zag" painted ships in the WWII convoys! Fortunately, most of the book's contents are photographs. Although many of the photo captions are the same inane print-width, most are succinctly written (which, sadly, in contrast, re-emphasized the flaws of the preceding obese paragraphs).
USSC also suffers from the omission of not using a darker intensity of type (and not black-lighting - highlighting - the names of the officers and sailors that served on the ship). It's a small detail. But as any sailor can tell you with conviction, even one wrongly-tied knot can cause a great deal of trouble down the line.
If the printer employs a page background that is dazzlingly white - as was done with USSC - the type density must be darker than usual. Spend more money on ink! Otherwise, the white background creates a "whiteout" condition which that blinds the reader (those of us who are currently & forlornly looking at 6 to 9-foot snow drifts in Maryland and Washington D.C. will attest to this, vehemently).
Flaws? What flaws? C'est la vie. Do not pulp this book.
Click Here to see more reviews about: U.S.S. Constellation: An Illustrated History (Civil War History Series)
Few things in our world today can be described as truly "unique," and yet, this word is aptly attributed to the USS Constellation. The last all-sail warship constructed by the United States Navy, the Constellation is the last surviving vessel afloat that actively served in the Union or Confederate Navies during the Civil War. While hundreds of battlefields commemorate the valor of the legions of soldiers who served in our nation's most divisive conflict, this ship is the last buoyant memorial to those who served their country and their cause upon the precarious seas. From her 1854 mystery-shrouded construction, through her numerous roles and assignments, to her several "restorations" over the last 40 years, this majestic vessel has a fascinating story to tell. USS Constellation: An Illustrated History, the first comprehensive account of the Constellation's journey through the years, tells this story and showcases over 200 images, including photographs, engravings, paintings, and sketches gathered from museums, archives, and private collections. These visual records, and the informative captions that accompany them, testify to the engaging tale of this seminal piece of American history, dispel the myths of her past, and set straight her record of accomplishment and endurance.
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