The War of 1812

by Henry Adams, John R. Elting (Introduction)

This unsurpassed work illuminates the unpopular, blunder-filled War of 1812.

Genres: History, American History

392 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Noted Henry Brooks Adams wrote his nine-volume History of the United States during the Administrations of Jefferson and Madison (1889-1891) and also The Education of Henry Adams , a famous autobiography, in 1918.

This oldest and most distinguished family in Boston produced John Adams and John Qunicy Adams, two American presidents, and thus gave Henry the opportunity to pursue a wide-ranging variety of intellectual interests during the course of his life. Functioning in the worlds of both practical men and affairs as a journalist and an assistant to his father, an American diplomat in Washington and London, and of ideas as a prolific writer, as the editor of the prestigious North American Review, and as a professor of medieval, European, and American history at Harvard, Adams of the few men of his era attempted to understand art, thought and culture as one complex force field of interacting energies.

He published Mont Saint Michel and Chartres , his masterwork in this dazzling effort, in 1904. Taken together with his other books, Adams in this spiritual, monumental volume attempts to bring together into a vast synthesis all of his knowledge of politics, economics, psychology, science, philosophy, art, and literature to attempt to understand the place of the individual in society. They constitute one of the greatest philosophical meditations on the human condition in all of literature.

Reviews

[Andrew Everson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well written documentation of what went on during this war. This was yet another war between Great Britain and America. It was a very interesting read, I got to see first hand the reactions and thoughts that people during this time were feeling. The images helped paint a more vivid image of what was going on as well. I would use this book for history of course and for children in the fifth grade, possibly earlier but there a problem with that because it depends when you learn this in a school its different everywhere.

[Ron Bay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very detailed look at the two year period during which America found itself in another war with Great Britain. The perspective of the author is much different than contemporary historians, Mr. Adams being much closer in time to the actual events. The book is filled with details of the political tenor of the times, as well as focusing in on each military campaign and the men who fought them. The one drawback I found was the author's inclination to criticize all of the participants on both sides of the conflict; it was almost like watching so called experts in the sports media dissect a football game after the fact. However, his criticisms, plentiful as they were, came across as even handed.
All in all a very good read for those interested in history that goes beyond the well known headlines.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a re-read for me. Henry Adams wrote a monumental multi-volume work on the War of 1812. This was a much easier read and did an excellent job covering this little known war.