A Country of Our Own (Civil War at Sea Series #2) » (~)

We first met Lt. Ker Custis Claiborne, formerly of the United States Navy, in Fire on the Waters. Claiborne is no admirer of slavery. But he's a Virginian, joining the fledgling Confederate States Navy in 1861. After fighting along the Potomac with the Army of Virginia, Ker and his mentor, Captain Parker Trezevant, burn, sink, and destroy across the Caribbean to undermine the Union and force a truce favorable to the Confederacy.

But when their first cruiser proves too slow and small, Ker joins Commander James Bullock in London to buy or build a ship of war that can sweep Yankee commerce from the seas. A daring coup puts Ker in command of the most dangerous raider ever to range from Brazil to Boston, but the bloodiest battle is yet to come -- a confrontation between the ex-opium clipper C.S.S. Maryland and the Union cruiser that has trailed her across a quarter of the world.

A Country of Our Own is historical sea fiction at its best -- authentic, engrossing, and masterfully paced -- from the master sea-yarner The New York Times Book Review says "knows what he is writing about when it comes to anything on, above, or below the water."

Publishers Weekly

The Civil War at sea is the unusual backdrop for this second volume in a series (after Fire on the Waters) following the career of Ker Claiborne, hero of the haplessly inadequate Confederate Navy. As one of several hundred officers who reluctantly leave U.S. service and offer their swords to the Southern cause, Claiborne initially finds himself a sailor without a ship. Following a brief but bloody land skirmish in which he demonstrates his bravado and strategic genius-as well as his loyalty to the South, something that has been questioned by his arch rival Henry Minter-Claiborne is finally appointed second officer aboard the CSS Montgomery, a hastily converted side-wheeler, now commissioned as a raider. Following a flurry of successful adventures, the Montgomery is disabled, and Claiborne is appointed captain of the CSS Maryland, a Yankee opium clipper he manages to seize. From the helm of this magnificent ship, Claiborne leads his intrepid crew on a series of high adventures that find their climax in a stunning sea battle. Poyer's determination to present a complex, historically accurate sea yarn is impressive, but his tendency to clutter the narrative with technical detail and terminology will befuddle those without nautical expertise. Sailing enthusiasts will be in their element, however, and diehard Civil War enthusiasts will find that the breadth of scope and breathlessness of pace compensate for the overload of naval detail. The prolific Poyer leaves plenty of loose ends dangling, so more is to be expected of Claiborne and his crew of swashbuckling rebels. Agent, Sloan Harris. (July) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.