Union 1812: the Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence by A. J. Langguth

Was the War of 1812 between the young United States and its motherland England really a second war of independence? Was it necessary to fight? Readers of Union 1812: the Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence by A. J. Langguth might conclude that it was a tremendous waste of lives. Both parties compromised their stated objectives for fighting in the settling of the treaty. Neither country got what it said it wanted. Diplomacy could have gotten the same result without the loss of life and the ruining of economies. Unfortunately, there were men who wanted to fight.

Some men demanded a war. They believed in war as the way to promote their causes and themselves. Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, William Henry Harrison, Oliver Perry, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, and others all became newspaper heroes during the war. President James Madison was frequently criticized during the conflict for his failures, but in the end, his reputation was also enhanced.

Union 1812 is within the old history tradition in that it focuses on military and political leaders, as its subtitle suggests. Hardly a word is said about common people other than men were pressed into serving in militias and farmers lost their harvests to passing armies. The only woman to have a prominent role is Dolly Madison. The book does break with past popular history in that it details atrocities. Many Indian women and children were killed and scalped. Commanders on both sides sometimes told their soldiers not to take prisoners, even when they tried to surrender.

Union 1812 is an interesting telling of the sometimes little-noticed episode in American history. Many libraries need another book on the topic. Consider this one.

Langguth, A. J. Union 1812: the Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. ISBN 0743226186