Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation

With primary-source research in UK and U.S. collections, Vogel (military journalist, Washington Post; The Pentagon) writes about the final weeks of the War of 1812, from August through September 1814, when the British burned Washington, DC, and then attacked Baltimore in a war of choice that nevertheless had unifying results: the ultimate deliverance of the nation's capital and the iconic "Star Spangled Banner"—both the Fort McHenry flag and the commemorative anthem. Vogel includes character studies of many primary figures, including Britain's Rear Admiral George Cockburn and Major General Robert Ross, American attorney Francis Scott Key, James and Dolley Madison, and various American military leaders. He also addresses the roles of African Americans and Native Americans during this war. He reminds readers that the young United States was not yet truly independent of British control and was subject to interior squabbles as well. Even seasoned historians may not know of the looting by local populations in contrast to relative British restraint, or that the banner held by the Smithsonian Institution is the larger garrison flag rather than the smaller flag of which Key wrote.