European Ironclads 1860-75: The Gloire sparks the great ironclad arms race

From the launching of La Gloire to the emergence of modern turreted battleships in 1875, this book offers a fascinating insight into Continental Europe's innovative and powerful ironclads.

In November 1859, the French "ironclad" La Gloire was launched in Toulon. She was the world's first seagoing ironclad--a warship built from wood, but whose hull was clad in a protective layer of iron plate. While history best remembers the ironclads of the American Civil War, these warships were mere toys...