Great book. The Holland VI, later commissioned as the USS Holland SS-1, was the first submarine sold to the United Sates Navy on 11 April 1900. John Phillip Holland spent over 25 years designing the craft. But the story is more than just the physical creation of a submarine. It’s about acquiring investment capitol, the incorporation of manufacturing companies, back stabbing business partners, the theft of Holland’s patent rights, competition with jealous competitors, manufactured scandal and marketing a submarine to an unappreciative Admiralty, a balking congress and an unlimited supply of venal Goverment Bureaucrats. This is the real story of the birth of the United States Submarine fleet. It‘s not romantic, but it is interesting.