"On June 19, 1864, one of the most dramatic naval battles in history took place. The Confederate raider Alabama faced the Union warship Kearsarge in an all-or-nothing fight to the finish. Authors Phil Keith and Tom Clavin introduce some of the crucial players, including John Winslow, captain of the USS Kearsarge, as well as Raphael Semmes, captain of the CSS Alabama. Winslow pursued Semmes in a fourteen-month chase, culminating in what would become...

John Winslow, as a lad, often watched the ships in the harbor, and fantasized about the adventures of his great grandfather, who captured Bluebeard the pirate. Little did young Winslow dream that one day he would send to the bottom another buccaneer whose depredations made Bluebeard's appear trifling by comparison.