Volume 2 of 2. I must confess I know little, if anything, about the War of 1812 with the USA, which is the subject of this book. For anybody else in the same boat, who wants to learn about it, this 1000-page account will go a long way towards remedying that lack of knowledge. It is a contemporary account, published a few years after the war, which officially ended in December 1814 though hostilities dragged on. As you might expect, the prose is flowery, written at a time when authors were not inclined to simply call a spade a shovel, but rather tended to elaborate with wordy sentences. That said, it is a very comprehensive account with great attention to detail, beginning with the causes for the war during which an American invasion of Canada was sharply seen off. There are numerous appendices containing official correspondence, the wording of the Peace Treaty drawn up in Ghent in December 1814 (though hostilities did not cease for a two or three months) and casualty figures for various engagements. Battle honours awarded to the British forces engaged included Detroit, Niagara, Miami and Queenstown, but on the other hand James is severely critical of what he calls the misbehaviour in action of two British regiments, the 44th and 21st Foot, described as “the two worst disciplined corps on the field at New Orleans.” The problem for the British was the threat from Napoleon, and it wasn't till the Spring of 1814, after his fall, that they were able to reinforce significantly their naval and military forces forces; nevertheless they were certainly pleased to see the end of the war. It was during this conflict that Washington was taken and the Capitol burned – and that reminds me of a story an American officer colleague told me. He was attending a military conference chaired by US colonel and at some point the British representative, also a colonel, was proving difficult. Eventually the exasperated chairman thumped the table saying: “What can you expect from the guys who burned Washington!” The British officer replied: “Really? I know we did Joan of Arc but I didn't know we did George as well!” Evidently I was not alone in my ignorance.

The second of six books in the series Upper Canada Preserved — War of 1812 tells of the events of 1813, such as the U.S. attack on York (today's Toronto), the Battles of Stoney Creek, Fort George, and Beaver Dams, and inter-tribal conflicts among the Natives, and showcases anew the exploits of Laura Secord, James FitzGibbon, and others.

Listen to a short interview with Jon Latimer Host: Chris Gondek - Producer: Heron & Crane In the first complete history of the War of 1812 written from a British perspective, Jon Latimer offers an authoritative and compelling account that places the conflict in its strategic context within the Napoleonic wars. The British viewed the War of 1812 as an ill-fated attempt by the young American republic to annex Canada. For British Canada, populated by many loyalists who had fled the American Revolution, this was a war for survival. The Americans aimed both to assert their nationhood on the global stage and to expand their territory northward and westward. Americans would later find in this war many iconic moments in their national story--the bombardment of Fort McHenry (the inspiration for Francis Scott Key's Star Spangled Banner); the Battle of Lake Erie; the burning of Washington; the death of Tecumseh; Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans--but their war of conquest was ultimately a failure. Even the issues of neutrality and impressment that had triggered the war were not resolved in the peace treaty. For Britain, the war was subsumed under a long conflict to stop Napoleon and to preserve the empire. The one lasting result of the war was in Canada, where the British victory eliminated the threat of American conquest, and set Canadians on the road toward confederation. Latimer describes events not merely through the eyes of generals, admirals, and politicians but through those of the soldiers, sailors, and ordinary people who were directly affected. Drawing on personal letters, diaries, and memoirs, he crafts an intimate narrative that marches the reader into the heat of battle.

The book demonstrates the effectiveness of British maritime blockades, both naval blockade, which handicapped the American Navy, and commercial blockade, which restricted US overseas trade. The commercial blockade severely reduced US government income, which was heavily dependent on customs duties, forcing it to borrow, eventually without success. Actually insolvent, the US government abandoned its war aims.