A Ship to Remember: The Maine and the Spanish-American War - Hardcover

Blow, Michael

3.9

20 ratings by Goodreads

9780688097141: A Ship to Remember: The Maine and the Spanish-American War

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688097146 ISBN 13: 9780688097141

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1992

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Explains how the Navy's prized battleship failed to protect Cuba from Spanish rule in the United States' first step away from isolationism during the Spanish-American War. 20,000 first printing. First serial, Military History Quarterly.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

A popular history of the ship whose sinking propelled the US into the Spanish-American War--and into a new, uncomfortable role as an overseas empire. The Spanish-American War is usually recalled as an unexpectedly short and resounding conflict, brought on by atrocity stories about a demonic enemy--not unlike the Persian Gulf War. But was it really the ``splendid little war'' hailed by Secretary of State John Hay? Hardly. As chronicled dispassionately here by Blow, former book editor at Reader's Digest (and grandson of one of the Maine's 85 survivors), the conflict was messy and ambiguous for Americans from start to finish: The Maine explosion in February 1898 blamed on a Spanish mine despite lack of conclusive proof; an American army bedeviled by logistical difficulties, stifling heat, and disease; a commodore who almost let the enemy slip away at the battle of Santiago; and, in the wake of the peace settlement, a bloody, three-year insurrection by Filipinos against Americans who had exploited their help in overthrowing the Spanish. Fortunately, Spain responded with ineptitude, and when not dismissing the effectiveness of America's immigrant-filled navy, the Spanish were squandering their chance to break through the American blockade at Santiago. Blow narrates the events surrounding the Maine sinking and the controversial rush to war in the subsequent weeks through a gallery of participants, including Theodore Roosevelt (who asked reluctant hawk and Republican kingmaker Mark Hanna, ``Now, Senator, may we please have war?''), Admiral George Dewey, Winston Churchill, Frederic Remington, Clara Barton, William Randolph Hearst, Stephen Crane, and Richard Harding Davis. Not very incisive in analyzing the war's military significance, but highly colorful in depicting Americans in the blood-roar of nationalism. (B&w photos, maps--not seen.) -- Copyright �1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

This fast-paced, well-written popular history uses a broad spectrum of printed sources to present the Spanish-American War from a reporter's perspective, concentrating on describing reactions to events, especially the sinking of the Maine in the Havana harbor on Feb. 15, 1898. The former book editor of Reader's Digest , Blow offers vivid set pieces on familiar personalities (Theodore Roosevelt, George Dewey, Spanish Adm. Pascual Cervera) and battles (Manila Bay, San Juan Hill, Santiago). The work's naval focus is so pronounced that its treatment of the Cuba campaign is little more than a summary history of the Rough Riders. But Blow's conclusion--that the Maine 's loss remains an unsolvable mystery--fits the evidence better than the frequently espoused conspiracy theories do. And his general approach is a useful reminder that human decisions ultimately determine the outbreak and conduct of war. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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