The Alabama began her maiden voyage in the teeth of a rising gale, barely escaping the clutches of a Union warship and the belated efforts of British authorities to seize her. All of these threads culminated in a three-way rendezvous in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where through a remarkable combination of luck, skill, and hard work, the South commissioned the most successful commerce raider the world has ever known. Stephen Chapin Kinnaman was a director of the Mobile, Alabama-based C.S.S. Alabama Association, and as such was involved with the ongoing wreck recovery efforts in France. He participated in the Association's first field trip to Cherbourg during the summer of 1999.  His nautical background and love of the sea has allowed him to craft a spirited account of the operational side of Alabama's creation which is so central to his recent book "The Most Perfect Cruiser," the story of how the Confederacy got the Alabama to sea.

For more about Mr. Kinnaman, visit his website at http://www.stephenkinnaman.com/book2/index.php