The War of 1812

by John K. Mahon

Book Overview

The War of 1812 is a perfect example of how a war should not be conducted. Congress failed to supply sufficient revenue to support the ill-equipped, poorly trained militia. There was little effective coordination of the war effort from Washington. The American people themselves were sharply divided over the nation's involvement, and many states failed to mobilize their militias when directed by the government, declaring that the federal demands were unconstitutional. From the Battle of Tippecanoe to the Treaty of Ghent, John K. Mahon's War of 1812 is the definitive story of this blunder-filled episode in American history. Here are the exciting tales of Zachary Taylor's brave defense of Fort Harrison; the massacre at Fort Mims; the duel between the frigates Constitution and Java off the coast of Brazil; the disaster at the River Raisin; William Hull's loss of Detroit and his subsequent court-martial for treason and cowardice; Francis Scott Key's composition of "The Star Spangled Banner"; the contest for naval supremacy on the Great Lakes; the burning of Washington; and the Battle of New Orleans. Detailed enough for scholars, yet vivid enough for the general reader, Mahon's study will remain the standard source for anyone who wishes to gain a complete understanding of the War of 1812.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306804298
• ISBN13: 9780306804298
• Release Date: March 1991
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

An exciting, detailed account

This book does a good job of relating, in detail, all of the military movements and battles of the war. I would have liked more information about the political aspects of this war, but Mahon states at the beginning of this book that this is a purely military history and that is pretty much what it is. There is a little information on the political and diplomatic aspects of the war, but not much. This is a frustrating war to read about if you are an American because we botched up just about everything relating to this war, at least until 1814, when we had some success (the defense of Baltimore and the battle of New Orleans). A bright spot for America during this war was the performance of our tiny navy. Our navy was too small to significantly damage the Royal Navy, but we won several dramatic ship vs. ship battles. The performance of our ground forces was mostly abysmal. America learned an important lesson during this war: we learned that we needed a strong national army and that we could not rely on state militias for our defense. Anyway, the book is well-written, for the most part, and the few good battles of this war are related in an exciting way. My only real criticism of this book is that it jumps around too much from one theater of the war to another. Some individuals are introduced briefly in one part of the book and then reappear much later in the book without a reminder of who this person is. Overall, though, Mahon does a good job of relating the facts of this war, as well as make some good observations about some of the changes to our nation that were caused by the war.