Book follows most of the historical battles and events that forged our nation during the war of 1812. This book is great for students learning about the war of 1812 and want a new way of describing and seeing the battles and significance of the war from just lecturing and textbooks. ( )

A good, basic, and readable primer on the War of 1812 -- from how it came to be to how it concluded. It does use a lot of secondary sources, but as I didn't know much about this war it was a good jumping off point for me. ( )

A highly readable history about a war of which I knew little. I read this book as a means to relax while listening to music and also to know more about this rather obscure conflict and it certainly fulfilled this role ( )

Fascinating history of the war the U.S. waged against Canada and it British overlords. ( )

The War of 1812 was yet another war that requires head scratching as to why it even started. They had to name it after a calendar year because there wasn't much else they could do. For the Yanks, it really was a great war, and here's why:

1. Commodore Hazard Perry was able to write the immortal, "We have met the enemy and they are ours...". Take that, evil Pommie empire.

2. 'Old Ironsides'. The baddest-ass nickname ever given to a ship.

3. The redcoats burned the White House. Americans have had a chip on their shoulder ever since.

4. President Madison was, apart from Lincoln, the only President to actually be on a battlefield as the nation's commander-in-chief. Of all the Presidents, tiny little Madison was the least likely to ever do that.

5. The Star-Spangled Banner. Rockets' red glare.

6. The Battle of New Orleans. The war was already over, but someone forgot to tell the Brits, who lost their general. Jackson would turn the victory into a future presidency.

Walter Borneman makes life easy for the reader by breaking the War of 1812 into focused and succinct chapters, which makes the entire book rather gripping. Although the outcome of the war was really a stalemate, the book is decidedly victorious in its revelation of how a clumsy and fledgling republic was forged into a nation.

Book Season = Autumn (east coast war = leaves change colours) ( )