Author Description

"Captain John Clibbon Brain of the Confederate States' Navy launched himself into the American Civil War with a verve and gusto which belied his origins in a Gloucestershire village in peaceful, rural England. At the beginning of the Civil War, he emigrated to the United States and enthusiastically took up a military career. He was soon transferred to the Confederate Navy where his recklessness and bravado ensured his success as a privateer... Throughout all [the] excitement, however, Brain kept his mother's family in England informed of his adventures and it is from this unique and fascinating correspondence that the authors have pieced together this the story of their daring and unorthodox relative"--Jacket.