Despite being a mostly forgotten war in the public's memory, the War of 1812 has been thoroughly researched by scholars and authors over the past two centuries. The list included below contains only a few of the many titles available, but provides a wide variety of older and newer publications across many perspectives including those of the British, Canadian, American Indians, Women, and African Americans. The listing of resources below does not presume endorsement by the National Park Service. Secondary Sources:Battle of Lake Erie or Participants in the Battle A Signal Victory: The Lake Erie Campaign, 1812-1813 by: David Curtis Skaggs & Gerard T Altoff Deep Water Sailors, Shallow Water Soldiers by: Gerard T Altoff Oliver Hazard Perry and the Battle of Lake Erie by: Gerard T Altoff Oliver Hazard Perry: Honor, Courage, and Patriotism in the Early U.S. Navy by: David Curtis Skaggs The Lake Erie Campaign of 1813: I Shall Fight Them This Day by Walter P. Rybka Yankee Surgeon: The Life and Times of Usher Parsons, 1788-1868 by Seebert J. Goldowsky War of 1812 187 Things You Should Know about the War of 1812: An Easy Question-and-Answer Guide by Donald R. Hickey 1812: The War That Forged a Nation by Walter R. Borneman 1812: War with America by Jon Latimer America on the Brink: How the Political Struggle Over the War of 1812 Almost Destroyed the Young Republic by Richard Buel Amongst My Best Men: African Americans and the War of 1812 by Gerard T Altoff Don't Give Up the Ship!: Myths of the War of 1812 by Donald R. Hickey Flames Across the Border: 1813-1814 by Pierre Berton In the Midst of Alarms: The Untold Story of Women and the War of 1812 by Dianne Graves The Invasion of Canada: 1812-1813 by Pierre Berton Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812 by Benson Lossing *Available at Google Books for free Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy by Ian W. Toll Tecumseh: A Life by John Sugden Tecumseh and Brock: The War of 1812 by James Laxer The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies by Alan Taylor The Incredible War of 1812: A Military History by J. Mackay Hitsman, Donald E. Graves The Naval War of 1812 by Theodore Roosevelt The War of 1812 by Henry Adams The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict by: Donald R. Hickey The War of 1812: A Short History by: Donald R. Hickey The War of 1812: The War That Both Sides Won by Wesley B. Turner Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence by A. J. Langguth Primary Sources:James Madison's Papers at the Library of Congress The Travels and Adventures of David C. Bunnell by David C. Bunnell The War of 1812 in Person: Fifteen Accounts by United States Army Regulars, Volunteers and Militiamen by John C. Fredriksen Surgeon of the Lakes: The Diary of Dr. Usher Parsons 1812-1814 by Ph.D. John C. Fredriksen Additional primary sources can be found online for free on the Internet Archive. Search for "War of 1812 Personal narratives". |
Last updated: June 2, 2025