War of 1812 Bicentennial

Skip to: General Histories, Naval Histories, Battles, People, Politics, Locations, Historic Sites, Miscellaneous Books, General DVDs.

Here is a selection of books that I've either used when writing this history of the War of 1812 or elsewhere on this site, or that I otherwise recommend. For on-line resources, see links.

General Histories

• Benn, Carl. The Iroquois in the War of 1812 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998). An interesting scholarly work that is still fairly easy to read.
• Berton, Pierre. The Invasion of Canada: 1812–1813 (Toronto: Anchor Canada, 2001).
• Berton, Pierre. Flames Across the Border: 1813–1814 (Toronto: Anchor Canada, 2001).
• Chartrand, Rene. Forts of the War of 1812 (Osprey Publishing, New York, 2012). A short book but provides interesting information about forts.
• Corfield, Geoffrey. 1812: The War for Canada: A War with a Year Named After It (Toronto, 2012). A hilarious and irreverent look at the War of 1812 from a Canadian perspective.
• Dale, Ronald J. The Invasion of Canada: Battles of the War of 1812 (Halifax: James Lorimer & Co., 2011).
• Harper, J. M. Annals of the War (London: Musson Book Company, 1913). This curious book mixes brief histories of significant events with ballads about the events. Part of this book is also available online on this site.
• Hickey, Donald R. Don't Give Up the Ship! Myths of the War of 1812 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007).
• Hickey, Donald R. The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989). This book concentrates on American political and social history. Very well-referenced.
• Hitsman, J. Mackay. The Incredible War of 1812: A Military History (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1965).
• Wood, William. The War With the United States (Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Company, 1916). Written from a Canadian perspective but generally unbiased. Also available online here.

Naval Histories

• Forester, C. S. The Age of Fighting Sail: The Story of the Naval War of 1812 (Hushion House, 2001). This re-issue of the 1956 classic is a well-informed and readable history of the naval battles of the War of 1812.
• Roosevelt, Theodore. The Naval War of 1812 (1881). A classic scholarly work about the War of 1812. Also available online at Project Gutenberg.
• Smith, Joshua M., Battle for the Bay: The Naval War of 1812 (Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2011).

Battles

• Babcock, Louis L., The Siege Of Fort Erie: An Episode Of The War Of 1812 (1899).
• Elliott, James E. Strange Fatality: The Battle of Stoney Creek, 1813 (Robin Brass Studio Inc., 2009).
• Whitehorne, Joseph, While Washington Burned: The Battle for Fort Erie 1814 (Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of America, 1992).

People

• Tupper, Ferdinand Brock. The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock (London: Simpkin, Marshall, 1847). One of the best classic books about Sir Isaac Brock. Also available online at Project Gutenberg.

Politics

• Beard, Charles A. The American Party Battle (New York: Macmillan, 1928).

Locations

• Nelson, Larry L. Men of Patriotism, Courage & Enterprise!: Fort Meigs in the War of 1812 (Heritage Books, 2008).
• Fobler, Crystabelle B. (ed.) and Elizabeth Manneke. History in Hamilton Cemetery, Second Edition (2008).

Historic Sites

• Collins, Gilbert. Guidebook to the Historic Sites of the War of 1812 (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2006). A very detailed list of War of 1812 historic sites in Canada, the United States, and even Europe.
• Fraser, Alexander. Brock Centenary: 1812–1912 (Toronto: William Briggs, 1913). Also available online here.

Miscellaneous Books

• Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong (New York: Touchstone, 2007).
• Shenkman, Richard. Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1988).

General DVDs

• "The War of 1812" (2007). An excellent War of 1812 DVD.
• "The War of 1812" (2011). This is the well-researched documentary that aired on PBS during October 2011.
• "Glorious Battle: The Siege of Fort Erie" (2011). A short PBS DVD about the Siege of Fort Erie that aired on PBS in 2011.
• "Niibaakhom: Ojibwe War Chief of The War of 1812" (2011).

If you happen to be looking for books on the War of 1812 but don't want to pay too much, I also have a list of War of 1812 bargain books available on bookcloseouts.com.