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Rating: 
Summary: History with a Sense of Humor
Review: Colonel Fitz-Enz has demonstrated an uncanny knack of combining the historical with the humorous. War isn't funny, of course, but small tactical events with editorial comments make for an excellent and interesting book. The book also shows how very close the US came to losing it all. An excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: History with a Sense of Humor
Review: Colonel Fitz-Enz has demonstrated an uncanny knack of combining the historical with the humorous. War isn't funny, of course, but small tactical events with editorial comments make for an excellent and interesting book. The book also shows how very close the US came to losing it all. An excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: Final Invasion
Review: I bought the book because it won the Distinguished Writing Award. Different from any other history book I have read because it is written from the British prospective more than the victors. Easy to get through,it tells a story that I have never heard before. How did I miss this important event in our country's history? To think that we were attacked on September the 11th once before. If we had lost this one, we could have lost it all.
It is a must read for every American.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent History of a Little Known Campaign
Review: The author clearly did his homework before writing this account
of the 1814 British/Canadian attack on Plattsburgh, NY. Had it
succeeded, things might look differently today in terms of U.S. territory and we would have another humiliating defeat to look back on.
The events leading up to the combined land/sea battle are well laid out and the battle itself is described in rousing detail, particularly the bloody Naval conflict on Lake Champlain. All the events in the book are also put into perspective with the invasion of Washington DC and Baltimore which was part of a recently discovered British grand strategy.
A few minor omissions and errors keep the book from being great history but don't hurt the overall narrative too badly. The newly discovered Prevost papers ( he was C.O. of the invasion and Governor of Canada ) lend new light on the subject but seem to have biased the author toward Prevost. Prevost was overly cautious in his approach and abandoned a partly successful attack with a huge numerical superiority at Plattsbugh. Worse still, he abandoned supplies and equipment in a hasty withdrawal which was not pursued. The author goes to some length to justify this even the Prevost was court martialed for it.
The Niagra Campaign on the other side of N.Y. state is not mentioned at all despite the mistaken withdrawal from Plattsburgh of most of the U.S. regulars to fight in it. The author also errs in reffering to the Royal Americans as the 62nd foot- they were known as the 60th for most of their career and also gives the imppresion that the Washington DC invasion force suffered much fewer battle casualties than in an accidental explosion. This is untrue, read "by Dawn's Early Light" by Lord to get a good picture of this battle.
Overall, other than omitting the Niagra campaign, these are minor quibbles that don't lessen the fact that this is a well written history of a neglected chapter in American History and a great victory by American arms during a dark hour.
Rating:
Summary: Final Invasion
Review: This book is a companion to a documentary produced for PBS. Unlike television, books demand solid research, detail and well structure arguments. Like so many television companion books, this is popular history that suffers from incomplete research. While a wide range of sources may have been consulted, the lack of a bibliography leaves the reader to consider the few titles and documents listed in the endnotes. For example, there is considerable discussion of the British Army, without any reference to any of the key secondary sources dealing with the period, let alone documents. One would have preferred more discussion on the quality of the officers corps, the fighting units and structural problems rather than the facing colours, rows of buttons and descriptions of Polish cuffs. Much would have been revealed had CO 42, the Secretary of State Correspondence for Canada been consulted. At times I was uncertain if the author was elaborating on his research to support the thesis or simply list the other authors he has dined or had drinks with. As noted elsewhere, there are a host of errors. As with all popular histories, if you read this book, do so with care.
Rating: 
Summary: Well Done
Review: While the author's thesis may be arguable, the evidence he presents is not. At this point in the War of 1812, nearly every action fought was decisive to the American cause. The War of 1812 undoubtedly the war in which the US was most unprepared to enter and fight. The military incompetence of both the Jefferson and Madison administrations, coupled with a foreign policy that was none too bright, nearly doomed the infant United States. The virulent hostility displayed towards a standing army and navy by both administrations, and the inability to prepare for a major war, condemned the United States to early defeat. Luckily for the US, competent commanders emerged from the crucible of combat to fight a well-earned draw with the British. This book is the story of such commanders and a decisive victory won against long odds by American land and naval forces in 1814 along the Canadian frontier. The author presents the situation in a simple, straight forward manner, having done excellent research on the subject, to the extent of uncovering new material in a forgotten collection which clearly demonstrates both the long odds faced by the Americans and how much importance the British placed on this invasion of the United States from Canada. This alone makes this book valuable to all students of the period. This may not be the best book available on the one of the War of 1812's battles, but it is undoubtedly one which adds decisively to our collective knowledge of this particular campaign and what was at stake for the United States in the summer and fall of 1814. There are some minor errors in the illustrations which are moderately distracting. There is one picture of US Marines of the War of 1812 identified as US Army, and a picture of the USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere mislabeled as part of the naval battle on Lake Champlain. While this is a little disturbing, it does not distract from the text or lessen the value of the book in general. This book is recommended, as it can take its place among other recent valuable books on the subject.
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