The Last Shot - by Lynn Schooler (Paperback)

About the Book

Naval history of the very first order offers a riveting account of the last confederate military force to lay down its arms.

From the Back Cover

Blending high-seas adventure and first-rate research, The Last Shot is naval history of the very first order, offering a riveting account of the last Southern military force to lay down its arms in June 1865. Following orders received the previous autumn, the Confederate raider Shenandoah fell upon a fleet of whalers out of New England working the waters near Alaska's Little Diomede Island. More than two dozen ships went down in a frenzy of destruction that occurred three months after the South's official surrender. In breathtaking detail, author Lynn Schooler re-creates one of the most astonishing events in American military history—a final act of war that brought about the near-demise of the New England whaling industry and effectively ended America's growing hegemony over worldwide shipping for the next eighty years.

Review Quotes

"A first-rate sea saga. . . . Schooler does an excellent job of portraying the ship, her colorful crew and her astonishing mission, putting into clear perspective a key Civil War episode." - Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"[A] first-rate work of history. . . . And what a tale it is." - Washington Times
"Years ago...I was introduced to scrimshaw. . . . It was evocative, precise, and made impressive use of the residue of the whaling endeavor. . . . The same can be said of Schooler's The Last Shot. This is not the bone-dry history of the scriveners. It is the art of scrimshaw, on paper." - Seattle Times