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On June 19, 1864, a fourteen-month chase culminated in one of the most dramatic naval battles in history. The dreaded Confederate raider Alabama faced the Union warship Kearsarge in an all-or-nothing fight to the death, and the outcome would effectively end the threat of the Confederacy on the high seas. Award-winning and bestselling historians Phil Keith (who was a US Navy Captain) and Tom Clavin share this riveting, mostly untold, story in To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The Epic Hunt for the South\'s Most Feared Ship\\u2015and the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War (Hanover Square Press). Informed by comprehensive research, extensive photos, maps, and the authors\\u2019 expertise, the book is a fresh blend of military, naval, and Civil War history.

The authors\\u2019 last book, All Blood Runs Red, was a New York Times Book Review Editors\\u2019 Choice, and praised by the Christian Science Monitor, Booklist, and more, and the pair are known for gripping yet substantiative narratives. In To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth, Keith and Clavin introduce some of the crucial but historically overlooked Civil War 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.

Today: The Confederate raider currently lies in French territorial waters and is the focus of a transcontinental salvage effort to raise funds for dives at the site, the recovery of artifacts, and more historical research. While parts of it have been brought up, most of the ship still lies on the ocean floor.

Most Civil War narratives focus on the battles fought on land, but To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth is a riveting, deep dive into the greatest sea battle of the war.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Phil Keith (1946-2021) was the author of six books, including Blackhorse Riders, which won the 2012 award from USA Book News for Best Military Non-Fiction, was a finalist for the 2013 Colby Award, and earned a 2013 silver medal from Military Writers Society of America. He held a degree in history from Harvard and was a former Navy aviator. During three tours in Vietnam, he served with distinction and was awarded, among other decorations, the Purple Heart, Air Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, and the Navy Commendation Medal.

Tom Clavin is the author of eighteen nonfiction books and has worked as a newspaper editor, magazine writer, TV and radio commentator, and reporter for The New York Times covering a variety of topics. His two most recent books, Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America\'s First Frontier (with Bob Drury) and Lightning Down: A World War II Story of Survival, were national bestsellers. Other bestselling titles include Dodge City, The Heart of Everything That Is, Tombstone, and The Last Stand of Fox Company.