The Civil War of 1812, Alan Taylor
The Civil War of 1812, Alan Taylor
6 Rating(s)
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The Civil War of 1812
American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies

Author: Alan Taylor

Narrator: Andrew Garman

Unabridged: 20 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 12/17/2010


Synopsis

In the early nineteenth century, Britons and Americans renewed their struggle over the legacy of the American Revolution, leading to a second confrontation that redefined North America. Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Alan Taylor’s vivid narrative tells the riveting story of the soldiers, immigrants, settlers, and Indians who fought to determine the fate of a continent. Would revolutionary republicanism sweep the British from Canada? Or would the British contain, divide, and ruin the shaky republic?

In a world of double identities, slippery allegiances, and porous boundaries, the leaders of the republic and of the empire struggled to control their own diverse peoples. The border divided Americans—former Loyalists and Patriots—who fought on both sides in the new war, as did native peoples defending their homelands. And dissident Americans flirted with secession while aiding the British as smugglers and spies.

During the war, both sides struggled to sustain armies in a northern land of immense forests, vast lakes, and stark seasonal swings in the weather. After fighting each other to a standstill, the Americans and the British concluded that they could safely share the continent along a border that favored the United States at the expense of Canadians and Indians.

Moving beyond national histories to examine the lives of common men and women, The Civil War of 1812 reveals an often brutal (sometimes comic) war and illuminates the tangled origins of the United States and Canada.

About Alan Taylor

Alan Taylor is the author of William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic, which won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for American History and The Internal Enemy, which won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for American History. Taylor is Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at University of Virginia, and lives in Charlottesville.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Barry on May 26, 2021

A newly independent country emerges with a struggling treasury, a dysfunctional military that cannot effectively wage war, and a faction ridden government that contains one side with a patriotism that is almost irrational, and another with conduct that borders on, (and sometimes crosses the line int......more

Goodreads review by Colleen on April 21, 2022

If you are to read only one book on the War of 1812, you cannot go wrong with this book. As he always does, Taylor has thoroughly researched this book, delving into corners in American history that are often overlooked. I must admit that my knowledge of this war was rather restricted. I was aware t......more

Goodreads review by Jim on March 26, 2021

Intriguing subject matter on a comparatively obscure angle of history, quite revelatory, but the history itself is somewhat repetitive in the telling. It's not a failure of the book, it's a quality of the story being told. But it is a very enlightening examination of the surprising facts behind a wa......more

Goodreads review by Mark on October 19, 2023

In July 1812, the Western District of the British province of Upper Canada was inundated with pamphlets heralding the impending arrival of an invasion force from the United States. Issued by General William Hull, the governor of Michigan Territory and the commander of American forces preparing to ta......more

Goodreads review by David on December 04, 2020

The Forgotten War I sought out Taylor's historical analysis in my quest to learn something about the War of 1812. Other than knowing that the "Star Spangled Banner" was penned during this conflict I was largely ignorant of the events and causes surrounding this renewed conflict between ourselves & Gr......more