John H. Schroeder

A succinct and readable account of one of the main personalities of the early USN; Rodgers providing his greatest service as an administrator and as a leader of the defense of Baltimore during the War of 1812. If I sense a missed opportunity with this work it's perhaps the author could have spent a bit of time analysing explicitly the weakness of authority and discipline in the period USN's officer corps; perhaps relating this to rise of the Naval Academy.