Ironclad

IRONCLAD is a Jules Verne-esque tale of action-adventure set in the closing days of the American Civil War. A band of ruthless Confederates breaks out of beleaguered Charleston in a sleek blockade runner. Their goal is England and a futuristic ironclad dreadnought built to aid the Rebel cause. The voyage is made perilous by a Union agent obsessed with stopping them. In Liverpool, they must escape his pursuit long enough to steal the ship and fight their way to sea. To arm their ironclad, they must face Britain's most powerful armored battleship. Then, with a hold-full of the newly invented super-explosive called Nitro, they must begin a suicidal run back across the sea. The goal: to launch a terrorist attack at the heart of the Union with the world's first weapon of mass destruction. And only one man can stop them.

This story blends a fictional tale with much historical fact. The elements of blockade runner, ironclad ram, and nitro-glycerin, along with the events of the Civil War, are all factual. Historical figures also play their parts, from Abraham Lincoln and Alfred Nobel to Walt Whitman and Jules Verne. The plot incorporates the fierce sea war that was waged and the elaborate intrigues and counter-intrigues between North and South in England over obtaining warships to break the strangling U. S. blockade. Finally, the theme of the Civil War's enormous contribution to the creation of modern warfare is deeply integrated.