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High Seas Confederate: The Life and Times of John Newland Maffitt, by Royce Shingleton (University of South Carolina Press, Columbia SC, 1994, 160pp, illus, appen, notes, biblio, index; $27.95hc) This short biography of one of the Confederate Navy's finest officers attempts to define what kind of man was John N. Maffitt. Ship's captain, expert navigator, coast surveyor, blockade runner and commanding officer of the CSS Florida, Maffitt was all of these in add ition to being highly intelligent, witty, brave and bold, and irresistibly charming. Shingleton charts the course of this man 's career from his ch ildhood and early ed ucation through his midshipman apprenticeship in the US Navy before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Maffitt, like many of his fellow officers, made the difficult deci sion to resign from the US Navy and seek employment with the nascent Confederate States Navy. The last two-thirds of this biography traces his career as captain of the blockade runner Florida and lesser commands towards the end of the war. Shingleton has written a sympathetic biography of one of the South's most successful and highly competent naval officers. Lesser known, perhaps, than Raphael Semmes of Alabama fame, yet in many respects his equal, Maffitt receives excellent treatment in this long overdue biography. Excellent notes, bibliographic documentation and illustrations make it a pleasure to read and a good starting point for studying why, in the words of Maffitt himself, "the grand mistake of the South was neglecting her navy ." HAROLD N. BOYER Butte, Montana Phantom Islands of the Atlantic, by Donald S. Johnson (Goose Lane Editions, Fredericton , New Brunswick, Canada, 1994, 232pp, illus, maps, notes , biblio, index; $17.95pb) Available from General Distribution Services, 30 Les mill Rd., Don Mills ON M3B 2T6 Canada. Hy-Brazil , Antillia, St. Brendan 's Isle-these are island names to conjure with , for landlubber and old salt alike. The quest of these mystic islands is recorded with authority and verve in Don Johnson 's Phantom Islands of the Atlantic. That quest played an important role in mankind 's gradual opening of the unknown Atlantic, the notorious Sea of Darkness where terrors and wmders SEA HISTORY 71, AUTUMN :994
abounded in sailor's stories. In tracing the change from the geography of legend to the geography of reality, Johnson explores the geographic philosophy and knowledge of the Greeks, Romans, Muslims and early Christians before delving into the Age of Discovery. Through the course of the book, he clarifies and amplifies contemporary maps, demonstrating how the patterns of history changed over the centuries, and investigates the state of the scientific and technological knowledge of seamen and cartographers. Johnson, who has plied the Atlantic under sai l extensively, tells the story with a sure touch, recognizing the importance of myth and fantasy in opening the ocean world, as well as geographic reality . His book is a wonderful read, a saga in itself, resonant with the ideas and changing world picture of the navigators who challenged the stormy Atlantic Ocean, and deeply informed by the realities ofnavigation under sail. PS How Navies Fight: The U.S. Navy and Its Allies, by Frank Uhlig, Jr. (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 1993, 470pp, maps, biblio, index; $34.95hb) Frank Uhlig's unique credentialseditor emeritus of the Naval War College Review, former senior editor at the US Naval Institute, and founding editor of the annual Naval Review-are extraordinarily suited to the complex task he undertakes in this book. Uhlig uses this broad foundation to address and analyze 215 years of American Naval history. How Navies Fight is the first English language full-length exploration of the nature of naval warfare to appear in several decades . The author has shrew di y avoided technical terminology to produce a volume which flows fluently and clearly in lay terms, covering operational analysis, strategic and tactical goals, and the successes or failures that resulted from each war opportunity from the American Revolution to Desert Storm. The compression of information is effective, the conclusions are clear and concise and the straightforward prose makes for an interesting, as well as an informative, book. If there is anything approaching a shortcoming in this work, it lies in errors of fact in Uhlig 's operational analysis of the wooden sailing navy ; yet these errors do not disrupt the sound conclusions he draws from each occasion. While his overview of Continental Navy opera-
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