Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Five Flags: The Warship That Reshaped the World

Five Flags: The Warship That Reshaped the World

Buxton, Stuart

Hardcover

Civil War Period (1850-1877)Japanese HistoryNaval History

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 0811777235
ISBN13: 9780811777230
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Published: May 20 2025
Pages: 368
Weight: 1.38
Height: 1.01 Width: 6.36 Depth: 9.20
Language: English
From the American Civil War to the Meiji Restoration, one ironclad warship shaped the fate of three nations across four decades of global conflict.

Five Flags tells the story of a Confederate ironclad built in secret, discovered by Union spies, sold to Denmark, returned to France, and ultimately delivered to Japan. Intended to break the Union blockade, the ship never fought for the Confederacy but instead moved through European powers before reaching Japan, where it played a role in the Meiji Restoration.

Armed with a 300-pounder cannon, five inches of armor, and a twenty-foot ram, the vessel traveled from French shipyards to Spanish harbors, through Atlantic storms, and across the Pacific to become part of Japan's modernizing fleet.

This is a riveting history that details the evolution of warfare... Stuart Buxton provides a wealth of information on maritime history here, told in both fact and personal stories of the crew members who served onboard. Five Flags is a fascinating chronicle of the international relationships that determined the ship's fate. --Independent Book Review

The book follows the ship's path through the civil wars of the United States, Germany, and Japan, showing how one warship connected key turning points in modern history.

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