keen analysis the progress of the operations on
land and fills in the political background of cause and effect. Theodore
Roosevelt's _The Naval War of 1812_ (1882) is spirited and accurate but
makes no pretensions to a general survey. Akin to such a briny book as
this but more restricted in scope is _The Frigate Constitution_ (1900)
by Ira N. Hollis, or Rodney Macdonough's _Life of Commodore Thomas
Macdonough_ (1909). Edgar Stanton Maclay in _The History of the Navy_, 3
vols. (1902), has written a most satisfactory account, which contains
some capital chapters describing the immortal actions of the Yankee
frigates.

Benson J. Lossing's _The Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812_ (1868)
has enjoyed wide popularity because of his gossipy, entertaining
quality. The author gathered much of his material at first hand and had
the knack of telling a story; but he is not very trustworthy.

As a solemn warning, the disasters of the American armies have been
employed by several military experts. The ablest of these was Bvt. Major
General Emory Upton, whose invaluable treatise, _The Military Policy of
the United States_ (1904), was pigeonholed in manuscript by the War
Department and allowed to gather dust for many years. He discusses in
detail the misfortunes of 1812 as conclusive proof that the national
defense cannot be entrusted to raw militia and untrained officers. Of a
similar trend but much more recent are Frederic L. Huidekoper's _The
Military Unpreparedness of the United States_ (1915) and Major General
Leonard Wood's _Our Military History; Its Facts and Fallacies_ (1916).

Of the British historians, William James undertook the most diligent
account of them all, calling it _A Full and Correct Account of the
Military Occurrences of the Late War between Great Britain and the
United States of America_, 2 vols. (1818). It is irritating reading for
an American because of an enmity so bitter that facts are willfully
distorted and glaring inaccuracies are accepted as truth. As a naval
historian James undertook to explain away the American victories in
single-ship actions, a difficult task in which he acquitted himself with
poor grace. Theodore Roosevelt is at his best when he chastises James
for his venomous hatred of all things American.

To the English mind the War of 1812 was only an episode in the mighty
and prolonged struggle against Napoleon, and therefore it finds but
cursory treatment in the standard English histor