# Recommendations for excellent book on the War of 1812 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000 "2011-09-02T20:40:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/1 "2011-09-02T20:40:56Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/2 "2011-09-02T20:51:32Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/3 "2011-09-02T21:29:29Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![charmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@charmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charmstr)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/4 "2011-09-03T18:10:46Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/5 "2011-09-03T19:30:05Z")
> [@charmstr](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/6 "2011-09-03T20:11:22Z")
You might want to read Pierre Berton’s two-part history of the war :[_The invasion of Canada, 1812-1813_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invasion_of_Canada) and _Flames across the border, 1813-1815_ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/7 "2011-09-03T20:18:40Z")
I’d recommend _1812: The War That Forged a Nation_ by Walter Borneman. It’s a good general history of the war. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/8 "2011-09-03T20:20:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/9 "2011-09-03T23:00:51Z")
Surely googling 1812 and “Glorious British Victory” will bring up some helpful suggestions? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/10 "2011-09-04T00:31:17Z")
> [@DeptfordX](#): > > Surely googling 1812 and “Glorious British Victory” will bring up some helpful suggestions? I think he’s looking for non-fiction. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/11 "2011-09-04T00:32:45Z")
Eric Flint’s _Rivers of War_ is a pretty good alt-fiction telling of the conflict, with twists. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/12 "2011-09-04T00:48:20Z")
Walter Lord’s THE DAWNS EARLY LIGHT covers the battles for Washington and Baltimore. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/13 "2011-09-04T01:04:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think he’s looking for non-fiction. Canada certainly gave a good accounting of itself. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/14 "2011-09-04T02:31:06Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Canada certainly gave a good accounting of itself. Sure. Any book that describes a Glorious American Victory would be equally fictional. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/15 "2011-09-04T04:25:19Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/16 "2011-09-04T10:13:53Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/17 "2011-09-04T13:31:53Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-excellent-book-on-the-war-of-1812/595000/18 "2011-09-04T15:33:08Z")
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.