George Daughan

Stuffed with facts, filled with incident after incident, and competently told, the first 100 pages of Daughan's book left me oddly unsatisfied. Having declared at the outset that he wanted to move beyond Gardner Allen's Naval History of the American Revolution and William Fowler's Rebels Under Sail by integrating naval history into the larger story of the Revolution, Daughan fees like he missed that mark, content to produce a better version of those works (both of which I read, albeit show more decades ago . . . letting the larger currents of the story fall by the wayside.

This was a miss for me, and I gave up on it at the 100-page mark, but if you're looking for an detailed narrative of the Revolution (and subsequent wars od the early USA) at sea, it may be just your thing. show less

Daughan's book is beautifully written, a history that is packed with detail and eminently readable at the same time. It is a model for historical writing and well deserves the Samuel Eliot Morrison Award Daughan received for it..

A disappointing book. The thesis was interesting; that Great Britain's plan to divide the American Revolution in half by controlling the Hudson River Valley with a drive north from New York, meeting up with a force sent south from Canada, not only did not succeed, but was flatly impossible. Unfortunately, the author presents little evidence to support that thesis. The book is a serviceable one volume history of the Revolutionary War, but fails to live up to its promise of proving a show more intriguing speculation. show less

This was a thorough and detailed narrative of the naval actions during the War of 1812. There is some coverage of land battles but I would believe that every naval engagement in the war is at least mentioned in the book.
I did not enjoy this book as much as some others I have read on this era. The book is so thorough and detailed that sometimes the action slows down to a snail's pace. Every ship in every battle is described down to the last gun, sail and everything else that goes on a ship. show more Some of the details were not relevant to me.
The detail extends to the descriptions of the naval actions. During the narration of the battle between the Constitution and the Guerriere the author talks about hauling the colors atop the mizzen top gallant which meant nothing to me. Part of my lack of appreciation is I am sure due to my lack of knowledge. I don't know what a starboard tack is so telling me a ship took a starboard tack doesn't mean a lot to me. It was a long book and there were a lot of details like this.
The book had a very apparent pro-American tone which at times sunk to the level of pure cheer leading for the Americans against the British bad guys. The American navy's performance was definitely a surprise to the British I think that could have been told with a little more objectivity.
I also felt that some of the characterizations of the people involved in the war were a bit shallow and stereotyped. The book was more about the events than the people involved.
I have grown to think of the War of 1812 as the second chapter in the Revolutionary War. The Americans definitely gained a greater level of respect by their military performance, especially the performance of the navy. This book has value as a thorough narrative of the American naval performance. It was just a bit much for me. show less