To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth

The Epic Hunt for the South's Most Feared Ship—and the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War

By: Tom Clavin, Phil Keith

Narrated by: Joe Knezevich

The enthralling story of the greatest Civil War battle at sea by the award-winning and bestselling historians Phil Keith and Tom Clavin.

On June 19, 1864, just off the coast of France, one of the most dramatic naval battles in history took place. On a clear day with windswept skies, the dreaded Confederate raider Alabama faced the Union warship Kearsarge in an all-or-nothing fight to the finish, the outcome of which would effectively end the threat of the Confederacy on the high seas.

Authors Phil Keith and Tom Clavin introduce some of the crucial but historically overlooked players, including John Winslow, captain of the USS Kearsarge, as well as Raphael Semmes, captain of the CSS Alabama. Readers will sail aboard the Kearsarge as Winslow embarks for Europe with a set of simple orders from the secretary of the navy: "Travel to the uttermost ends of the earth, if necessary, to find and destroy the Alabama."

Winslow pursued Semmes in a spectacular fourteen-month chase over international waters, culminating in what would become the climactic sea battle of the Civil War.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Excellent!

To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth:
The Epic Hunt for the South’s Most Feared Ship and the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War

By Phil Keith with Tom Clavin

This is an already fascinating story to masterfully by the authors.
For those not already aware, during the American Civil War, the CSS Alabama was a Confederate commerce raider, a “screw sloop” or combat ship which operated by sail and engine power. Her origin story includes a good deal of skullduggery, and her captain, Raphael Semmes, is famous for his abilities. She had ranged the world’s oceans taking Union ships. To the extent that Union men of war were told to hunt her down and finish her; Semmes and the Alabama were constantly in the papers and were celebrities world wide.
Enter the USS Kearsarge which caught Alabama off Cherbourg, France and sank her.
The authors do a great job of telling the back story of the players and the ships. They use frank honesty and writing flair to humanize the folks involved.
One example is that when Semmes, the hero extraordinaire, came home from his service with the US Navy in the Mexican-American War, his wife had to present him with a brand new baby… that could only have been conceived while he was at sea. She had publicly cuckolded him in a time when that stigma never went away.
Another, on the other side, involved the Captain of the Kearsarge, John A. Winslow. He had only gotten command of the Kearsarge as a bit of a booby prize when he shot his mouth off and angered none other than Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and President Lincoln.
When Winslow sent his message that he had out fought and reigned victorious over the ultimate, seemingly unbeatable Semmes, Welles sent back a message which amounted to “You’re kidding, you got lucky, right?” Because Winslow was the preternatural, awkward… nerd, shunned by the “cool kids.” I know something about this lol.
There are many more fascinating details in this book. Definitely worth your time.

Interesting and Entertaining

This book gives a good account of both the Kearsarge and Alabama as well as the prominent crew members of each ship. Definitely worth a listen if you have interest in the Civil War or naval warfare.

Fascinating how these men traveled the world on a ship in the mid 19th century.

The relief of surviving a battle out at sea must be wild. Love the ending of this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat

Excellent Historical Account

An example of how truth is much more interesting than fiction. Between the Alabama, and the Shenandoah in the gulf of Alaska, amazing sea warfare really effected places outside the USA.

Nice History of Civil War Navy

This was a thorough explaining of the history of CSS Alabama and to a greater extent naval operations as a whole during the Civil War. History buffs will love the detail.