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Drawn from new sources, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian presents a gripping narrative that recreates the events that inspired hundreds of slaves to pressure British admirals into becoming liberators by using their intimate knowledge of the countryside to transform the war.

At the opening of the War of 1812, the British control the most powerful navy on earth, and Americans are again victims of piracy. Bliven Putnam, late of the Battle of Tripoli, is dispatched to Charleston to outfit and take command of a new 20-gun brig, the USS Tempest. Later, aboard the Constitution, he sails into the furious early fighting of the war. Prowling the South Atlantic in the Tempest, Bliven takes prizes and disrupts British merchant shipping,...

Young Henry Phipps is on a quest to realize his dying mothers last wish: to be buried at sea, surrounded by her family. Not an easy task considering Henrys neer-do-well father is in debtors prison and his comically earnest older brother is busy fighting the red coats on the battlefields of Maryland. But Henry's stubborn determination knows no bounds. As he dodges the cannon fire of clashing armies and picks among the ruins of a burning capital he...

In the waning days of 1814, a fleet of Royal Navy warships closed in on the waters below New Orleans. The gateway of the Mississippi River and America's heartland, it was defended by General Andrew Jackson with an 'army' of farmers, merchants, backwoodsmen, smugglers, slaves, and Choctaw Indians, many of them unarmed. Davis tells the story of one of the most impactful battles ever fought on American soil-- a tale of resilience, bravery, and uncommon...

An abridged version of the story of five-year-old Charlotte Tucker, who would grow up to become the grandmother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, as she feels the effects of the War of 1812 while living with her family near Boston.

The Star-Spangled Banner is known by all, treasured for its powerful melody and stirring lyrics. And yet, only about 40% of U.S. citizens know all the words.

In 1814 Virginia, a slave in President Madison's White House, experiences the burning of Washington by the invading British army.

"Shortly after the outbreak of the War of 1812, Captain David Porter set out at the helm of the USS Essex, intent on rounding Cape Horn and hunting British whaling and merchant ships in the Pacific Ocean. Porter's odyssey took him to exotic isles and brought glory to the fledgling American navy, and in The Shining Sea, celebrated historian George C. Daughan tells the full story of this historic voyage for the first time. Porter's cruise is now regarded...