More Americans need to read this in order to learn that our country has faced a war that was unpopular and ended in a draw. America invaded Canada! The popularity of the President suffered and the Secretary of War was forced to resign. The economy of the United States was nearly bankrupted and shipping was ruined. The army was made up of unwilling state militia who were not trained or disciplined. Author Hickey covers this history well. Familiarity with this history could serve as a warning about the current engagement in Iraq. At the very least it is pertinent information for today's Americans.

More Americans need to read this in order to learn that our country has faced a war that was unpopular and ended in a draw. America invaded Canada! The popularity of the President suffered and the Secretary of War was forced to resign. The economy of the United States was nearly bankrupted and shipping was ruined. The army was made up of unwilling state militia who were not trained or disciplined. Author Hickey covers this history well. Familiarity with this history could serve as a warning about the current engagement in Iraq. At the very least it is pertinent information for today's Americans.

Although the War of 1812 has not exactly been forgotten, it is hardly well-remembered. No one calls himself a "War of 1812 Buff" and there are few if any reenactors. In part, as Hickey explains in this well organized, clearly written account, this is because the war was both indecisive and probably easily avoidable. In concise chapters, Hickey fills in the diplomatic and political background to the war, including the political divisions between the Republicans and the Federalists--and among the various factions of the Republicans; the military campaigns in the Northwest, Niagara, East, and Southwest, the naval encounters, the British attacks on Washington and Baltimore, and the triumph of Jackson at New Orleans;the "inner war," especially the isolation of the Federalists and New England; and the Peace of Ghent and its ironic aftermath, as the Federalists were in large measure scorned even while their beliefs in the need for greater maritime security and internal taxation were vindicated. Along the way, Hickey highlights the frequent problems of supply, finance and morale (such as militiamen not wanting to cross the Canadian border in the middle of a campaign), the accomplishments of rising stars such as Winfield Scott, Oliver H. Perry, William Henry Harrison,and of course Francis Scott Key; the ineptitude of some American leaders (political and military); and the roles of various Indian tribes in the conflict. Although told more from the American point of view, the book also notes the political aspects of the war from the point of view of English leadership.
Although I've studied plenty of history, I've never read much about the War of 1812, and this book filled the gap in a short time. The writing is vigorous and sprinkled with humor, some of it appropriately ironic. Highly recommended.