First published 2019
Robert L. O'Connell stands on the deck of a preserved battleship, staring up at massive gun turrets that once shook the seas. He has traveled hundreds of miles to visit these steel monuments scattered along America's coastlines. Each ship pulls him deeper into a paradox that defines his research. The more O'Connell uncovers about battleships' military limitations, the more he falls under their spell. He knows these weapons delivered more spectacle than destruction, yet their psychological impact shaped naval warfare for decades. Nations built them not just to fight but to project power through sheer presence. O'Connell reflects on how modern weapons hide beneath ocean surfaces and underground silos, too terrible for public display. The battleships represented an era when a country could take pride in its instruments of war. Their thunderous guns kept peace through the fear they inspired in others. O'Connell grapples with this contradiction between effectiveness and symbolism, between what these ships actually accomplished and what people believed they could do. His journey becomes both scholarly investigation and personal reckoning with the seductive power of these floating fortresses.
Genres: history, 20th-century, non-fiction, 21st-century, military-history, naval-history, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-reckoning, scholarly-investigation
Setting: America
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
409 pages · Kindle Edition · Routledge