When Britain invaded The United States in 1814 for the second time, our fledgling government had become established in Washington, D.C. Official government buildings, including the White House, became immediate targets of the Redcoats. Anthony S. Pitch delivers a comprehensive account of the War of 1812 in The Burning of Washington. From invasion through to the birth of America’s national anthem, this book has details you may not have found in your high school textbook.
I give The Burning of Washington 3 out of 5 stars. Honestly, a lot of my frustrations with this book centered around the narrator of the audiobook – a bad narrator can really ruin a good book. I was also a bit disappointed that book titled The Burning of Washington spent so much time on events outside of the actual burning of the city. There was a good deal of time spent discussing Francis Scott Key and the creation of the Star Spangled Banner, including his time as a prisoner of war. My favorite story of the War of 1812 is Dolly Madison’s efforts to save artifacts from the White House and the quite insane actions she and the staff took that day – actions barely mentioned in this novel. There are several interesting stories the author did include, but the minimal new information I gleaned from this book was offset by the horrible narration.
While the audiobook is definitely not something I would recommend, you may enjoy this book if you like historical nonfiction. If you aren’t familiar with the War of 1812, this would be a great jumping off point for your reading – this book is very detailed in terms of the invasion and battles. The material is covered in this book in a way that is appropriate for all ages.
I chose The Burning of Washington for my October nonfiction read. As I have been reading about President Madison and his contemporaries, I realized I hadn’t reach much about the burning. As stated, this book is a comprehensive study of the war, but if you are looking for something specifically about the burning, there may be better books on the market.
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- Current print book: Christmas With the Queen, Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb
- Current audio book: The Party Line, Carolyn Brown
- Book I’m most looking forward to: A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness
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