The Alabama, British neutrality, and the American Civil War / Frank J. Merli ; edited by David M. Fahey.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-220) and index.

The international dimension of the American Civil War -- Toward the CSS Alabama -- The law of the Alabama -- E.D. Adams, Roundell Palmer, and the escape of the Alabama -- Captain Butcher's memoir of the Alabama's escape / edited with Renata Eley Long -- Raphael Semmes and the challenge at Cherbourg -- The Confederacy's Chinese fleet, 1861-1867.

"One of the enduring "what ifs" of the American Civil War is whether the Confederacy would have prevailed with the support of Great Britain. While it is doubtful that British mediation alone could have ended the war with Southern sovereignty triumphant, Britain's willingness to support a Confederate navy might have been a different story. Had the Confederacy succeeded in building a navy capable of raiding Union commerce, running the blockade, and protecting the southern coast, would the war have turned in its favor?"

"It was, in fact, the case that the South tried to build a navy in England (as well as in France) and worked its diplomatic channels to persuade Britain to intervene in the war. In this book, Frank J. Merli tells the story of these efforts and offers a spirited critique of the way historians have presented the international dimension of the American Civil War. He discusses the various aspects of the escape of the CSS Alabama from British territorial waters in 1862, the decision of its captain, Raphael Semmes, to fight a Union gunboat off the coast of France in 1864; and the curious story of a British-built Chinese flotilla that could have become a small Confederate fleet had negotiations with the Chinese not broken down."--Jacket.