The Chesapeake Command

Les Eldridge
Broadsides Press (2005)
ISBN 0972630376
Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (4/06)

In 1859 Rory Dunbrody and his friend, Tobias St. John, both members of the American Navy, were caught up in an effort to prevent warfare between the British and the U.S. over a pig shot in the Washington Territory. While they worked to prevent this war, as well as one with the Haida Indians, quite another war was fomenting in the rest of the U.S.

When the Civil War broke out two years later, Rory and Tobias each joined sides in the effort, Rory on the South and Tobias on the North. This book is about the strength of a friendship that can withstand any adversities thrown at it, as well as a fascinating backstage look into the inner workings of the early Navy and Coast Guard, or the U.S. Coast Survey as it was known then.

The book is filled with historical people, some of whom you'll recognize and others that sound familiar enough to send you to the computer to look them up as I did. The speech is very much in keeping with the era and I found myself mimicking it out loud as I read, especially the Irish brogue.

This book is not a quick read. You really have to read slowly to absorb all of the information you are given. Many times I found myself going back a few pages to reread a passage that tied in with the one I had just read. I also spent quite a bit of time poring over the maps at the front of the book.

This book just cries out for a sequel and the ending left me believing that there will be one.

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