Note on terms
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 The American Case for War
2 The British Empire's Case for War
3 Declaring War
4 America on the Offensive
5 The British Empire at War
6 Wartime Opposition in the United States
7 British Opposition to the War
8 Ending the War and Constructing the Peace
Conclusion: Who Won the War of 1812?
Abbreviations
Notes
Index
Troy Bickham is a Professor of History at Texas A&M University. He is the author of Making Headlines: The American Revolution as Seen Through the British Press and Savages within the Empire.
"A well-researched work, Bickham's book places the conflict in a
transatlantic framework, comparing and contrasting British and
American motivations, attitudes, and perceptions."--Journal of
Colonialism and Colonial History
"Bickham accomplishes a lot in this volume...Well written and
occasionally provocative. Highly recommended."--CHOICE
"A provocative, behind-the-scenes look at the machinations of
empires, this excellent history will appeal to all interested
readers."--Library Journal
"[Bickham] argues rightly that the war involved a commercial
struggle within the Atlantic world as well as a struggle to
dominate North America. Behind the ostensible casus belli--e.g.,
the impressment of sailors from American ships by the Royal
Navy--was a clash between America's expansion and Britain's efforts
to avenge an earlier defeat by making a former colony a client
state."--The Wall Street Journal
"Authoritative, up-to-date, and readable...Modern scholarship at
its very best."--The Weekly Standard
"Densely-researched and fascinating...If the American Revolution
was fought for a national existence, the War of 1812 was fought for
a national validity--the 'certain rank' James Monroe invoked in
dealings with the fractious British diplomats who sought to codify
the new nation as a permanent junior partner on the world stage.
The fight for that rank was carried out far more importantly in the
press of the day than on the limited battlefields of the war
itself,
and Bickham, by exploring that fight, has made an invaluable
contribution to our understanding of Mr. Madison's War."--Open
Letters Monthly
"Through eight chapters of lively narrative that alternate between
the perspectives of Britain and those of the United States, Bickham
stays true to his central premise that the United States fought the
War of 1812 to force Britain to respect American national
sovereignty, while the British fought to maintain the right to
ignore it. Bickham spins a good yarn."--Nicole Eustace, Journal of
American History
"Well-researched...Bickham's deft juggling of imperial and national
complexities is certain to make The Weight of Vengeance an
important contribution to the historiography of the War of
1812."--Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History
"Bickham's account of the peace negotiations [is] the best I have
read."--American Historical Review
"An interesting and well-written book that throws light on one of
the most complex wars in America's history, at once the last stage
of the rejection of British power and the first major war of
American imperialism."--Jeremy Black, author of The War of 1812
"The War of 1812 still raises patriotic hackles in some quarters
today, far more so that the American Revolutionary conflict. For a
long time a cool, authoritative, mid-Atlantic voice has been
needed, addressing far wider issues than are considered by the many
existing naval and military studies. Troy Bickham has provided this
with a thorough analysis of the motivations and capabilities of
America, Britain and Canada. Here is the full story behind the
decisions
and events, from the pre-war period when all three combatants
underestimated each others' resolve, to the peace signed at Ghent
in 1814 between two politically- fragile governments. This astute
and
nuanced book will now be central to our understanding of this
conflict."--Roger Knight, University of Greenwich
"The War of 1812, after decades of neglect, is again interesting
historians. Yet Troy Bickham, by placing the war in a global
context and showing that it mattered for Britain as well as Canada
and the United States, brings fresh perspectives to the subject.
His new insights, and his clear and accessible prose, make this an
important contribution to a growing literature on an important
war."--Stephen Conway, author of Britain, Ireland, and Continental
Europe
in the Eighteenth Century: Similarities, Connections,
Identities
"Troy Bickham's splendidly balanced account of the War of 1812
explores how the British as well as the Americans allowed partisan
politics and jingoistic emotion to spark a war that need not have
occurred."--T. H. Breen, Nicholas Chabraja Center for Historical
Studies, Northwestern University
"Engagingly written and full of new information, Troy Bickham's The
Weight of Vengeance fittingly commemorates the 200th anniversary of
the War of 1812. Bickham's account, highly original yet judicious,
shows how military strategy reflected the public opinion of the
combatants: U.S., Canadian, and British."--Daniel Walker Howe,
author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America,
1815-1848
"As [Bickham's] analysis proceeds, a decisive view of the war
becomes increasingly clear -- and increasingly persuasive...The
conflict receives a worthy chronicle here that will clarify its
meaning for anyone who cares to understand it."--History News
Network
"In The Weight of Vengeance, Troy Bickham counters that
conventional wisdom, arguing that the war 'was not militarily,
strategically, or emotionally a peripheral event for Britain and
its empire.'"--Foreign Affairs
"Based on extensive investigation of primary sources, this book
contains pensive theses and provides much context about the salient
trans-Atlantic facets of the forgotten War of 1812...This elegantly
written book will become a classic in the field."--R. William
Weisberger, Pennsylvania History
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