On the night of February 17, 1864, history was made when, for the first time ever, a submarine sank an enemy ship. The submarine was the C.S.S. H.L. Hunley, a hand-powered Confederate warship! However, when time came for the Hunley to return to port, it failed to return.

For over one hundred years, the world speculated as to what might have happened to the Hunley. In 1995, news flashed around the world, the Hunley had been located! This book is the story of the Civil War career of the Hunley, the twentieth century search for her, her discovery and recovery, and what the archaeologist and engineers have discovered.

Overall, I found this to be a really fascinating book. Though it Young Adults category, it does such an excellent job of covering its material that readers of all ages will be entranced by the story. I heartily enjoyed this book, and think that you will too. I highly recommend this book!

This is a great photographic account of the raising and restoration of The CSS Hunley. An outstanding coffee table book for the civil war historian. While it excells in visual representations it unfortunately falls short in narrative, leaving the reader wishing for more (for that read "Raising The Hunley")

I found this book to be very well written and researched on the subject of CSS Hunley and its recovery from the bottom of the sea. The book covers the development of this boat, history of its crew, mission and possible aftermath. Then the book goes on to the history of the search for the Hunley and its discovery and recovery from the ocean floor. Upon its recovery, the book uncovers what lies within the boat. (I used the word "boat" since that is what the submariners called their vessels.)

I think the best part about this book is that the author write down a lot of information without getting tedious or bogging the reader down with too much information. The amount of stuff revealed in this book proves to be just right for anyone to get into the subject and enjoyed. The book proves to be well illustrated and comes with many colorful photographs that proves to be helpful and revealing. Anyone reading this book will come away with a very good understanding of CSS Hunley and her recovery from the sea and subsequence discoveries that followed.

Highly recommended for anyone who got a slightest interest in the naval technology, Civil War era or just in the Hunley itself.

SECRETS OF A CIVIL WAR SUBMARINE: "Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley" By Sally M. Walker won the Robert F. Sibert Medal and the Notable Award from the Association for Library Service to Children. Although the history of the submarines dates back to the 1620's, in 1864 the Hunley Submarine was the first submarine to ever sink an enemy ship, but the Hunley never returned to port and was lost for decades. "How the submarine, which lay buried in the mud of the ocean floor, left her bed there and what happened is a fascinating story of mystery, bones, and gold." The sub is now in North CHarleston, SC at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center. In the 1870's PT Barnum offered $10,000 for finding the Hunley, which had silently delivered a torpedo which sank a Union ship blockcading the coast of South Carolina. The Hunley was re-discovered in 1995 by archeologists. This fascinating book for young people is just as interesting and informative for adults in that it details in simple language and good photos the study of the layers of sediment for clues about the ship's sinking and about the demise of the passengers. All the archeology, history, forensics, discovery, and mystery solving are presented in an engaging way involving the intrigues of the sea and science. This is a terrific book for family or schools, good explanations, well written, and easy to read

Secrets Of A Civil War Submarine, by Sally Walker, provides a nice, quick overview of the Hunley's history, recovery, excavation, and conservation. Targeting the late grade-school reader, the book is written in the style of and at a similar level to a National Geographic article. Any reader will enjoy it and come away with a good understanding of the Hunley project. There are a few detail mistakes, such as in an explanation of neutral buoyancy, but the main point is always delivered successfully by the text. I've been studying material on the Hunley since 2000, but I found several important bits of information I haven't seen elsewhere. The explanation of archaeological techniques as applied in the Hunley excavation is the best I've read. The book is nicely illustrated, although most of the photos have been previously published, and the interpretive drawings contain some fairly large inaccuracies. Overall, I'm happy to have this in my collection of books about the Hunley and I'm glad to recommend it.