The Union’s first ironclad USS Monitor had six commanders during its one year of service. Each left their mark on the iconic vessel’s all-too-brief record.

As Secretary of the Navy during the Civil War, Gideon Welles’s leadership helped the Union win the war. Thanks to Welles's dynamic drive, the US Navy went through a tremendous expansion to enable the blockade to succeed.

These magical books are known as Fore-edge painted books, they are very rare and are painted through a specific, delicate process. The fore-edge paintings are sometimes added later than the publishing of the book, so the exact date of them is unknown.