The Life and Times of Captain John Low by Robert Thorp

Thorp has crafted an illuminating and long-overdue biography about the adventurous life of Captain John Low. He skilfully blends newly discovered primary resources and compelling storytelling to provide a refreshing contribution to American Civil War and British maritime history.

Walter E. Wilson

CAPT (USN), ret.

Author of “William Watson and the Rob Roy, Adventures of a Civil War Blockade Runner” , “Civil War Scoundrels and the Texas Cotton Trade; The Bulloch Belles”, “James D. Bulloch, Secret Agent and Mastermind of the Confederate Navy”

This work shines a bright new light on the life and times of Captain John Low, a British mariner and key player in the American Civil War. As a chronicle of the Captain's historically important life it dispels many misconceptions and adds significantly to our understanding of the roles played by both him and the United Kingdom in that formative conflict.

Keith Webster

Retired journalist and corporate communications manager, consultant and tutor

This authoritative and well referenced biography by Thorp provides new insight into both the life and times of Captain John Low.

W Cairns Smith OBE

Emeritus Professor

University of Aberdeen

Never before has the story of Captain John Low been told in such detail and with such remarkable clarity. In penning his excellent narrative in this fascinating new book, Thorp has corrected some anomalies in John Low’s hitherto accepted biography. Furthermore, the pages are packed from start to finish with new facts and unique insights which, when taken together, provide a body of work which offers a significant contribution to Anglo-American history.

Robert W. Joseph CBE, MUniv, BSc (Hons)

Air Commodore, Royal Air Force (Retired)

Robert Thorp’s "The Life and Times of Captain John Low" is a fine example of Emerson’s quote, “There is properly no history, only biography.” Its fast-paced account of Englishman John Low’s exploits as a Confederate States Navy officer is skillfully woven into the trans-Atlantic saga of a family rooted in Britain but whose generations branched into America’s South and beyond. Add a dash of Civil War, a pinch of blockade running and a generous serving of Florida and Alabama’s commerce raiding, and you have the ingredients for an inspiring historical adventure.

Stephen Chapin Kinnaman

Author of "A Crisis of Loyalties and Captain Bulloch"

[...] Thorp has produced a very readable history of the CSN that broadens our understanding of the war at sea. For British readers, the chapters covering Low’s life in England before and after the American Civil War are an added bonus with Thorp’s insights regarding life during the industrial age. Well Done.

[Extract from book review published on the platform 'Emerging Civil War', Posted online on September 8, 2026. Reviewer: Dr. David F. Winkler. https://emergingcivilwar.com/2026/09/08/book-review-the-life-and-times-of-captain-john-low-an-englishman-in-the-confederate-states-navy/ ]