The Perfect Wreck - Old Ironsides and HMS Java: A Story of 1812

"Naval historian Steven Maffeo has used the fiction format to give us what will probably be the finest, truest account ever of the 1812 sea battle between "Constitution" and "Java" -- in which the young American Navy demonstrated the confidence, pride, and professionalism that have served it well for over two centuries.

A highly recommended must-read for every naval enthusiast-indeed, for every American!" 
     -- Stephen Coonts, 17-times NY Times best-selling author

December 29, 1812 - The date of one of the most dramatic sea battles in naval history.  HMS "Java" and the USS "Constitution" (the famous "Old Ironsides") face off in the War of 1812's most spectacular blue-water frigate action.  Their separate stories begin in August 1812 -- one in England and the other in New England.  Then, the tension and suspense rise, week-by-week, as the ships cruise the Atlantic, slowly and inevitably coming together for the final life-and-death climax.

"The Perfect Wreck" is not only the first full-length book ever written about the battle between the "Constitution" and  the "Java," it's a gem of "creative nonfiction."  It has the exhaustive research of a scholarly history book; but it's also beautifully presented in the form of a novel.