Ironclad
A defining entry in the Top 100 Books. Sitting at number 72, Ironclad earned its place through a combination of craft, context, and consensus among the twenty-four editors who maintain this list. The companions immediately above and below it on this ranking are worth reading in the same sitting.
Position in the list
About this entry
A defining entry in the Top 100 Books. Sitting at number 72, Ironclad earned its place through a combination of craft, context, and consensus among the twenty-four editors who maintain this list. The companions immediately above and below it on this ranking are worth reading in the same sitting. The editors’ note placed it here on the basis of three criteria: durability across re-reads (or re-watches, or re-plays), influence on the entries that came after it, and the degree to which it could only have been made by the person — or team — who made it.
In the comparative table maintained by the Books desk, Ironclad sits within a band of 69 – 75 that contains some of the most contested swaps of the year. Editors vote with arguments; a swap requires three editors and one written defense.
From Wikipedia
The Ironclad Board was an advisory board established by the Union in 1861 in response to the construction of the CSS Virginia by the Confederacy during the US Civil War. The primary goal of the Ironclad Board was to develop more battle-worthy "ironclad" ships, leading to the construction a number of innovative designs, including the USS Monitor. The board consisted of senior naval officers Commodore Joseph Smith, Commodore Hiram Paulding, Commander Charles H. Davis and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Fox.
