Customer Reviews

The Naval War of 1812 (Modern Library War)

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In a time when patriotism is passe, reading this book can redden the stuff in any American's veins. Our Navy's often-victorious battles against a superb and numerically superior foe ranks with the Athenian victory at Marathon in the annals of honor. Roosevelt was a natural storyteller and a first-rate scholar. Like JFK two generations later ("Why England Slept") this work was the product of a young twentysomething Harvard grad (JFK was actually a senior) that commanded serious attention nationally, and presaged a later rise to the summit of public life. Roosevelt's research is exhaustive, but not tedious, thanks to a vigorous prose style that carries the reader through a mass of detail without losing sail. The digression on which nationalities make the best seafarers would no doubt be considered un-PC today, but, as a general characterization of national characteristics, they arguably hold true. The author's final chapter, on the Battle of New Orleans, forshadows future policy, in that his criticism of the unreliability of the militia were embodied in the reforms that fully Federalized the National Guard, as the Dick Act of 1903. (Doubtless, his Spanish-American War experiences contributed to his desire to supplant the 1793 Militia Act, as well.) This book rests on my shelf, next to Mahan's "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History," and O'Brien's Aubrey-Maturin novels - as is fitting for an historical work written in the spirit of high adventure and studded with minute detail. -Lloyd A. Conway

In numerous encounters, the British, the most dominant force in naval in history was handed it's head on a platter by the young upstarts of the US Navy. How did this happen? British authors of the day tended to place the blame on bad luck and circumstances while downplaying the courage and professionalism of the US officers and crews.

TR set out on a scholarly quest to set the record straight. He vigorously argues that the Americans ships were well handled by their officers and the American gunnery crews were able to hit their targets because of discipline and practice.

This book is indeed a landmark in naval literature. It firmly established Teddy Roosevelt as an author and a historical scholar. Because his approach to this book was scholastic, many sections read like a graduate level thesis. If you are looking for a book that will keep you spellbound with tales of high sea adventure, you will only find it in measured doses. Mr. Roosevelt does know how to tell a story, but it is the overall story of the young US Navy.

This very well-written account, surprising from a youth of only 23, gives balanced portrayals of most of the major sea battles between the fledgling American navy, and the Lord of the Seas, Great Britain. In it, Roosevelt backs up his praise of American maritime ingenuity and the seaworthiness and discipline of its sailors with proofs, citations and cautious but sound reasoning. In each, diagrams of the engagements are provided, as well as other documented statistics, without overloading the reader with details, yet there are plenty of those. Roosevelt describes the handling of each ship and the actions of its captains with minute detail, without being, to the layman, purely technical. Although Roosevelt beats the patriotic drum, he also swings a corrective switch, against our commanders and our partisan historians, when their actions are faulty and objectionable -- a fact which underscores his fairmindedness and the authenticity of his rendering.

This Echo Library edtion is a great disappointment. It is riddled with mistakes; words run together, first letter of many words missing, placement of footnote numbers incorrect. There are many different formats used for tables. Their decision to remove the original illustrations and diagrams was a major mistake. It is obivious that a proper proof reading was not cared out. The responsible person for this production has a lot to answer for.

In my opinion this edition should never have come to print. It is no longer a useful reference to the serious student nor is it much good for the casual interested reader.

I must admit that after seeing that this book was written well over a century ago, I was a bit hesitant, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this work.

Theodore Roosevelt, the future president, at the age of 23 has written a very impartial(by standards of the day)study of the young US Navy in the War of 1812. Not a dry history, but a very readable and enjoyable book. Prior works on the War of 1812 are very biased whether it was written by British or American authors. Roosevelt does not fail to excite when it comes to the ship to ship duels, where more often than not, the US Navy comes out on top.

However, their are some problems. Roosevelt is very critical of the famous William James account of the conflict. He cites many errors and biases, with justification. However, Roosevelt often digresses too much in this regard, or I would have given this work 5 stars. Regardless, this book was a pleasure to read and a must have for the Patrick O'Brian fans out there(Like me!)

This is a reprint of the original work without illustrations. The text is all that remains and that text is available on-line for free from the Project Gutenburg.

In my view a "true classic" tells not just the story that is the subject of the book, but the language used tells you about both the author and the time. Here, one of the United States' greatest leaders, Theodore Roosevelt, who subsequently became President, does just that.

I read this book to try and kill two birds with one stone - get a better feel for one of my favorite Americans and learn about the war of 1812. Unfortunately Roosevelt focuses on the naval actions without giving much context or background. He also assumes you will know a lot of the nautical terms he uses and I did not. Roosevelt is fixated with refuting William James' "Naval History of Great Britain" at every turn, which got tiring; even if it did provide a lot of insight into how obsessive the man was and how relentlessly he attacked those obsessions.

Roosevelt is at his best when he gets into the heroism of battle, often complementing the British as a way to further pump up the Americans. The payoff for me was the last chapter on the battle of New Orleans, which is not primarily naval, and was written a couple of years after the rest of the book. Here you get his red-blooded opinions on Jefferson, Jackson, and slavery, along with a bully battle narrative.

Knowing that this book was written by Theodore Roosevelt makes it an important book regardless of the actual text. TR's influence on the strategic importance of seapower can be traced back to his feelings as a young author. The book itself was tedious and not very inspiring. It's interesting to glimpse the feelings of the young, strong, post-Civil War American writing the book. As far as a history of the War of 1812, you can do much better elsewhere.

I will first state that I have read numbers of Mr. Roosevelt's work and I have a fond affection for his ability.
In stating that, the War of 1812 by his hand is not so much a history, but a complete (and needed) ripping apart of the British smear machine against Americans by a Mr. James.
A modern happening now is the smear against Gov. Sarah Palin by the press and lefists distorting every last detail of her life. This is what the British did to Americans in either they were unqualified or according to James it was British citizens who won the war for America against their own nation as Americans were not up to it.

This Mr. Roosevelt rips to shreds with a doctorate in details that he repeats in a style like in Winning of the West.
My highest affection for Mr. Roosevelt as a historian and writer though when he waxes poetic as in the Wilderness Hunter in hunting moose. This he accomplishes in the first chapter and the last chapter in the Battle of New Orleans wonderfully.
Readers should be warned you are going to have to know luff, tack, weather gauge and various nautical terms as mizzen and spar as sometimes it is difficult to keep track of the ships and even the soldiers on each side.

Mr. Roosevelt has fine maps his wife exclaimed in him drawing little ships when they had dinner. His drawings help immensely even in his positioning the sails.
The greatest shame is our children are deprived of the history Mr. Roosevelt describes on the Great Lakes in some of the the greatest battles in history occur there in Capt. Perry and MacDonough. MacDonough and his squandron is an epic tale of bravery, against all odds and Christian virtue in winning the battle of Lake Champlain.

Teddy could have included 500 more pages on Perry, MacDonough, Hull and Porter who were absolutely the equal of the greatest seafaring soul of all time in Sir. Francis Drake.
As Mr. Roosevelt notes being Dutch, how much it makes the veins of an American swell with pride in knowing these men and how much equal our English brethern served with distinction and honor.

This is a fine book, but it is not a child's story in an easy read. It is technical and I highly doubt the good reviews in the New York Times understood a word of the nautical tide.

I will compliment the two forwards in this book as they are written not by the typical liberal historian who would not understand the meaning of the warriors of 1812. They do a splendid job in being interesting unlike the judgmental type who did the forward on Patton.

I hope that Amazon would start carrying versions of the books Mr. Roosevelt notes in this history in James Fenimore Cooper, Capt. Porter and Adm. Faragut's memoirs in volume so one would not have to search for scarce books.
Mr. Roosevelt proved as a young 20 year old he was equal to any history phd. His work is worth the struggle in refuting the British smears of that era.
God bless