Customer Reviews

The invasion of Canada

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This volume is an excellent introduction to the War of 1812. The Canadian author maintains his objectivity throughout the volume, and gives accurate and telling details to causes, politics, and leadership on both sides of the northern North American border and how that affected the progress of the war. After reading this book, the reader will come away baffled and outraged at the level of incompetence shown on both sides (initially the US side however), and the level of audacity and caution exhibited by both sides as well. In summation, a highly recommended book, that will provide a good base upon which a detailed understanding of causes, effects, and results of many aspects of this war can be attained.

Best book on history I ever read. Most books on the war of 1812 focus on the 'high level' intrigue--congressional debates, executive office plotting, etc. This book focuses on the front lines. Learn about how Madison decision to appoint imcompetent generals (He didn't want the war, and it was his way of keeping it from happening) led to human suffering. Get a good sense of life on the frontier and the fear Americans had of the local Indians. Read this book.

The two reviews below are absolutely correct. Pierre Berton has written a great masterpiece of narrative history. I first read this book almost 20 years ago, and I can still recall the enjoyment it gave. This is perhaps the best book of history in terms of enjoyable reading which I have come across. The only author in the same league today is Simon Schama, and he generally works in somewhat more esoteric, less popular areas. I have also discussed the excellence of Berton's writing in a review of the companion volume Flames Across the Border: 1813-14 which, along with this text, makes up as fine a two volume set of North American history as can be obtained.

The invasion of Canada is one of the most engrossing books on history I have ever read. Ms Berton brings to life the characters, events and atmosphere of a continet on the brink of war. This is achieved by Ms Bertons skillfull blend of historical research and artistic licence, which give even the most uninspred reader of history something to get thier "teeth into". I found it avid reading and look forward to sampling more of Ms Bertons work.

Over the years, I have heard quite a lot of nationalistic bluster in regard to the events in this book. For that and other reasons, I have looked for some authoritative accounts. My impression here is that Pierre Berton had no axe to grind. The story is fair and engaging.

The author's take on combat is that leadership and discipline trump numbers, much to the disadvantage of the United States in 1812. It really was a different world. Imagine a militia in which officers were elected by the volunteers, commanders refused to recognize each other's authority, and a general had to negotiate with his own troops, even to the point of begging them to engage in battle.

The other side had problems of its own. Canadian loyalty is shown to have been somewhat fickle and partly dependent on their confidence in victory. We see how the British had to balance complicated and uncomfortable alliances with Indian tribes who had mixed motives. The Indians receive no free pass on the atrocities inflicted upon civilians and surrendered soldiers.

The characters are even more complex than the events, and they are presented with insight and occasional wit. I enjoyed the description of Brigadier-General William Wadsworth as "the most eloquently profane officer in the (US) army." A particularly sympathetic man is Major-General Stephen Van Rensselaer of the New York Militia. His position was a political appointment, but not one of his own making. It would have been easy enough to dismiss him as an unqualified political hack, but a compelling case is made to show him as a man who was placed at the Niagara River by opponents who wanted him out of the way. Duty kept him there in spite of it all.

I did note a few contradictions and implausible suggestions. How could there not be a few? On the whole, it holds up quite well. Gratefully absent from this narrative is the pop-history practice of trivializing people and events. No wooden teeth stories here. The war was deadly, the people were real, and Berton respected that.

This is one of he best written books I have read on the war of 1812. It reads like a thriller loaded with factual accounts and information not covered in many other books on this war.

I liked this book. It was very well-written, very entertaining and very informative. Numerous well-drawn maps that clarify the text are provided, as is a very useful "cast of characters", organized by area and battle. The author has created a book that reads like a novel, but is based on original scholarship. The book clearly lays out the initial land campaigns of the war of 1812, highlighting the inadequacies of US military leadership, which led to a string of defeats by numerically inferior, but much better led British\Canadian forces. The causes for the war are clearly laid out (i.e., the British "impressments" of US sailors (recovery of deserters in the British view), restriction of US trade (to weaken Napoleon) and British support of the Indians against the US (in order to gain and keep necessary allies, without whose support victory would be impossible). The book gives a very clear picture of the earliest phases of the war. It shows the US army (and militia units) to have been led by incompetents, in contrast to the excellent leadership of British forces by Isaac Brock and his subordinates. As was often the case in early US history, the US entered the war with great expectations, but completely unprepared, either in terms of equipment, training or leadership. Unfortunately, the book only deals with the earliest phases of the US-Canadian part of the war of 1812. The eventual turnaround in US fortunes, with respect to the Canadian theater of war, is only hinted at.

The fighting between the US and British\Canadian forces can only be adequately understood if the events of 1813 are also covered in some detail. The title to the contrary, the book does not describe the 1813 fighting on land that pushed the British and Indians from Fort Detroit, nor the American naval victories on Lakes Champlain and Erie that led to the actual American invasion of Canada and the capture and burning of the provincial capitol of York (modern day Toronto). The burning of York is never even mentioned, even though it occurred in 1813 and, in part, led to the retaliatory burning of Washington DC. I have been informed by another reviewer that the events of 1813 and 1814 are covered in Berton's sequel to this book, "Flames Across the Border: 1813-1814".