That’s pretty much it. I’ve read a lot about the Civil War and both world wars, but would like a definitive (and readable) history of the War of 1812. Cheers.
I came in here to recommend Adam Zamoyski’s 1812: Napoleon’s fatal march on Moscow and then I realised you were talking about the lesser war between the USA and Great Britain, on which I have no recommendations sorry.
Well, it’s all part and parcel, of course. America declared war on England in order to expand territory in the NW part of America and into Canada, figuring England was too busy with the French to put up much resistance, and very nearly got our asses handed to us.
The Naval War of 1812 by Theodore Roosevelt was considered the standard history of that war for quite some time and was used as a text at the Navy War College well into the 20th century. It’s available from Project Gutenberg for free or, if you would rather have a hard copy, from Amazon for about $13. It was Roosevelt’s first major published work (he may have had some of his articles on birds published before that), and he completed it, I think, while he was still an undergraduate at Harvard.
Interesting that there is such a dearth of information. I would assume that there is a British history of the war, but I’m looking for an American perspective that isn’t completely biased. I’ll take a look at the TR book. Thanks.
You might want to read Pierre Berton’s two-part history of the war :The invasion of Canada, 1812-1813 and Flames across the border, 1813-1815
I’d recommend 1812: The War That Forged a Nation by Walter Borneman. It’s a good general history of the war.
C.S. Forester’s The Age of Fighting Sail also deals with the naval battles between Britain and the US during the 1812 war. I think it presents a fairly balanced perspective.
Surely googling 1812 and “Glorious British Victory” will bring up some helpful suggestions? 
I think he’s looking for non-fiction.
Eric Flint’s Rivers of War is a pretty good alt-fiction telling of the conflict, with twists.
Walter Lord’s THE DAWNS EARLY LIGHT covers the battles for Washington and Baltimore.
Canada certainly gave a good accounting of itself.
Sure. Any book that describes a Glorious American Victory would be equally fictional.
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve downloaded the TR book to my Kindle (free!), and will look for the others. I’m still wading through Atkinson’s account of the Sicily/Italy campaign of WWII. Good stuff, but a thick book. Wonder when volume three is coming out.
My favorite history of the War of 1812 is Donald P. Hickey’s The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict. Not the most recent study (I think it came out in 1989?), but, as far as I can tell, the one which best combines readability and keen historical appraisals. The Borneman book cited above would be my next go to, but I found its analysis less good than Hickey’s.
For the British perspective, sorta, there’s Jon Latimer’s 1812: War with America, which I’ve not read in full, but skimming through found quite interesting.
I’d also have a few recommendations just for the naval war, but these are what I’d suggest for a general overview.
Funny you should ask, as I just started to do some War of 1812 research for work. I turned to my historian father for some book suggestions, since the War of 1812 was one of his periods of study in grad school and he has several shelves devoted to the topic. Hickey’s book mentioned above was the first one he handed me (he may be biased, since he wrote a review of it). 50 pages in, it is pretty good.
Dear old dad also gave me Gelnn Tucker’s 2 Vol. “Poltroons and Patriots”, Forester’s “Fighting Age of Sail” and Benson Lossing’s “Pictorial Field-Book of The War of 1812”, done in 1868 and at over 1000 pages perhaps best for skimming for amusing anecdotes.
He also spoke highly of Teddy Roosevelt’s work, but since I am really looking at the economic effects of the war, I don’t really have time for that much hijinks on the high seas.
It was a crucial and pivotal event for the world at large, although most Americans you ask would probably not be able to tell you who fought whom in the war. Any decent class on 19th century history covers the period from 1812 to 1914, as the first 12 years were irrelevant and the first 14 years of the 20th century were firmly rooted in what occurred in the 1800s.