Speaking of the overly romanticized lost cause, I seem to remember that his preface mentions that Confederate history plays well to the Italian sensibilities he grew up with. I had not known that there was such an strong overseas interest in the Confederate cause. I thought, as you did, that he was sometimes a bit gushing in his recounting of Confederate efforts. He was certainly in awe of how much the Confederate Navy was able to achieve despite starting from absolute zero. Still, I gave him some credit for being upfront about his own potential biases toward the history he was recounting. I don't think historians are ever going to be one hundred percent objective about their work even if they want to be. Personal biases creep in one way or another as information is uncovered. As a reader, I take it as an encouraging sign when writers are willing to state the personal favoritisms they may have toward one side or another. The fact the Luraghi did this and then went ahead and did an excellent job of researching his subject so that we saw the quality of his source material makes this a fine work of history. I'm glad to hear that you liked it as much as I did.
