Clyde Built: Blockade Runners, Cruisers and Armoured Rams of the American Civil War. By Eric J. Graham. (Edinburgh, Scotland: Birlinn Limited, 2006. Pp. [xviii], 238. $34.95, ISBN 978-1-84158-424-9.)

Numerous historical studies have been conducted on Confederate blockade-running and shipbuilding

operations during the American Civil War. This book makes a unique examination of the subject from the perspective of Scottish involvement in the trade, rather than from the more general view of British participation that is usually the focus of historians. It is an important distinction as one-third of all vessels used to break the Union navy's blockade of the southern states were built on the River Clyde. Author Eric J. Graham strives to illustrate the exploits of the many Scottish companies and individuals who partook in the blockade-running industry, as well as in the construction of ironclad rams and cruisers.

Graham succeeds in drawing attention to the importance of Clyde-based businesses in the sometimes secretive blockade-running trade, and he does so with considerable care and detail. Graham organizes his study in a thematic framework, focusing particularly on the evolving nature of the blockade-running industry and the motives of those involved (massive profits were the greatest incentive, despite the correspondingly high risks of capture by the Federal navy and financial loss). The tactics of the Clyde-built steamers to get their goods in and out through the Federal naval blockade of the southern coast are examined, as are the technological advances spurred by the need for engine speed to evade capture. The author highlights his account with the individual cases of Scottish businessmen--like Thomas Stirling Begbie, a director of both the Albion Trading Company and the Universal Trading Company of Glasgow--who placed their personal and financial fortunes into the southern war effort and blockade running. Graham also describes the backdrop of diplomatic activity that surrounded Scotland's blockade-running industry, which skirted British laws of neutrality and gave cause for the U.S. consuls to conduct extensive secret investigations to sabotage the flow of goods to the Confederacy. To a lesser extent Graham examines the Confederate navy's usually unsuccessful effort to purchase ironclad rams and cruisers built in Scotland.

Graham makes good use of sources that include public archives, newspapers, and published materials. For historians the absence of footnotes is a minor impediment, but for the general reader this will offer no detraction from the fascinating content. The author provides clear and useful maps, in addition to the many well-chosen illustrations, which all combine to create an aptly written account of the importance of the Scottish involvement in the blockade-running industry during the American Civil War.

ANGUS CURRY

La Trobe University