Lincoln's Trident

Browning describes every action of even the slightest significance in elegant yet unforced prose, vividly capturing both the minute detail and the overall spirit of events. His account is punctuated with illuminating character sketches of the most important actors. The magisterial breadth and thoroughness of Browning's narrative reflects more than a decade of research in the private papers of individual participants, the published Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies, Navy Department records in the National Archives, and a host of other archival resources. The University of Alabama Press has produced a volume of the highest quality, including nine helpful maps of the Gulf Coast, making Lincoln's Trident: The West Gulf Blockading Squadron During the Civil War an essential resource for any serious researcher or library interested in Civil War naval history. [I]t is an engagingly written and informative treasure trove. --The Journal of Southern History ... This comprehensive work will stand as the definitive treatment of its topic. Recommended. --CHOICE The herculean task of patrolling the one thousand miles of shoreline between St. Andrews Bay, Fla., and the Rio Grande fell to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. In Lincoln's Trident, Browning presents what will surely be the definitive study for years to come, if not forever. The depth and breadth of his research is incredible. . . . In truth, I don't know that I have ever seen a more impressive documentary foundation. . . . How the blockade was maintained, and how under Farragut's superb leadership it helped shorten the war, are beautifully answered in this big and important book. --Alabama Review The story of the Union blockade in our part of the world is beautifully and thoroughly told in a new book, Lincoln's Trident: The West Gulf Blockading Squadron during the Civil War by Robert Browning Jr., chief historian of the U.S. Coast Guard and author of several books. --Mobile Bay It is an extremely well-researched, highly readable book about the West Gulf Squadron, it informs, it engages and it educates. It explains the problems of blockading and of fighting in rivers, it praises when due and criticizes when necessary. It complements Browning's other Civil War books on the blockading squadrons and is a welcome addition to the naval view of the war. --The Mariner's Mirror In recent years, some of the most valuable contributions to the naval bookshelf have been authored by U.S. Coast Guard chief historian Robert Browning, whose Union blockading squadron studies remain unmatched in mgnitude of research and content. Each new release in his series is a significant event in Civil War publishing and Browning's newest book, Lincoln's Trident: The West Gulf Blockading Squadron during the Civil War, is more than the qualitative equal of its North and South Atlantic squadron predecessors. --CIVIL WAR BOOKS and AUTHORS [...] Lincoln's Trident is a multi-faceted examination of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron's activities, actors, and achievements. [...] For all but Civil War naval specialists, this will be the only work on the squadron's doings that one need to consult. --Civil War Book Review Until Browning's trilogy, very little in-depth analysis had been devoted to this crucial aspect of the naval war. Now with his study of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, the author continues in his same concise, pragmatic style. The book is well researched, with a copious bibliography and endnotes, and is an invaluable addition to Civil War scholarship. --Peter Kurtz, author of Bluejackets in the Blubber Room: A Biography of the William Badger, 1828-1865 The research and subject matter in Lincoln's Trident are excellent and this book continues Browning's series on the US blockade of the Confederacy. It is a comprehensive work that will be the standard on the subject for the foreseeable future. --Maurice Melton, author of The Best Station of Them All: The Savannah Squadron, 1861-1865