Thieves Of Mercy: A Novel Of The Civil War At Sea - Hardcover

Nelson, James L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060199709 ISBN 13: 9780060199708

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 2005

Synopsis

Having survived the bloody Battle of New Orleans and the loss of their ironclad Yazoo River, captain Samuel Bowater, engineer Hieronymus Taylor, and the survivors of their crew are given new orders -- take command of an ironclad warship being built in Memphis, Tennessee.

Bowater and his men take passage upriver from "Mississippi" Mike Sullivan, one of the wild, undisciplined captains of the River Defense Squadron, only to find, on their arrival, that their ship is not even half built and the enemy is closing fast.

Against their better judgment, Bowater and crew join forces with the mercurial Sullivan on board his ad hoc river gunship the General Page. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Confederates once again fling themselves bravely at the overwhelming power of the Yankee invaders. The deadly back-and-forth fight along the Mississippi ends at last in the massive naval battle of Memphis, and the near-suicidal attempt by the Confederates to hold back the Northern flood.

Filled with wild characters and heart-pounding action, and set against the bold backdrop of the Civil War, Thieves of Mercy is a worthy successor to the W. Y. Boyd Award-winning novel Glory in the Name, the book Bernard Cornwell lauded as "by far, the best Civil War novel I've read."

About this title

Book Description

A stunning novel about the Confederate Navy and the follow up to Glory in the Name.

From the Back Cover

Having survived the bloody Battle of New Orleans and the loss of his ship, Captain Sam Bowater is given new orders - to take command of an ironclad warship being built in Memphis, Tennessee. Bowater and his men are taken up river by 'Mississippi' Mike Sullivan, one of the wild, undisciplined captains of the River Defence Squadron, only to find, on their arrival, that their ship is not even half-built and the enemy is closing in fast.
Against his better judgment, Bowater joins forces with the Sullivan on board his river gunship. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Confederates once again fling themselves bravely at the overwhelming power of the Yankee invaders. The deadly fight along the Mississippi ends at last in the massive naval battle of Memphis, as the Confederates attempt to hold back the Northern advance.

Edition details

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060199709
• ISBN 13: 9780060199708
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 463