"1812: The Navy's War"" Topic

"When war broke out between Britain and the United States in 1812, America's prospects looked dismal. British naval aggression made it clear that the ocean would be the war's primary battlefield—but America's navy, only twenty ships strong, faced a practiced British fleet of more than a thousand men-of-war. Still, through a combination of nautical deftness and sheer bravado, a handful of heroic captains and their stalwart crews managed to turn the tide of the war, besting the haughty skippers of the mighty Royal Navy and cementing America's newly won independence. In 1812: The Navy's War, award-winning naval historian George C. Daughan draws on a wealth of archival research to tell the amazing story of this tiny, battletested team of Americans and their improbable yet pivotal victories. Daughan thrillingly details the pitched naval battles that shaped the war, and shows how these clashes proved the navy's vital role in preserving the nation's interests and independence. A stunning contribution to military and national history, 1812: The Navy's War is the first complete account in more than a century of how the U.S. Navy rescued the fledgling nation and secured America's future."

See here
link

Anyone have read this book?.
If the answer is yes, comments please?

thanks in advance for your guidance.

Amicalement
Armand

How disappointing, from the blurb put out by the publisher it soulnds like the author has seriously missed the point on the causes, conduct and outcome of the 1812 debacle.

"improbable yet pivotal victories"

Anyone who has studied the actions concerned would know this is a rather daft statement. Hopefully the book is rather more grounded in reality than the blurb above would suggest

Actually, I have this. It's a pretty good book. Blurb notwithstanding.

Eric

I agree with Eric. I found the book well written and generally balanced with the odd bits of of American bravado.

A small criticism is that the title is a misnomer as it a history of the War of 1812 with an emphasis on the naval aspect. Nonetheless, a well researched history of the War of 1812.

Thanks for your guide boys!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Remarkably enough, one of the better works on the naval side of the War of 1812 is still Theodore Roosevelt's The Naval War of 1812.

And one has to be careful with the promo blurbs; those are often written by some hack with the publishing house who has no idea what they're writing about.