The Encyclopedia Of the War Of 1812: A Political, Social, and Military History

Gr 8 Up–Prefaced by short overviews of the war’s causes, course, and effects, these more than 850 alphabetically arranged articles examine relevant events and figures from the Battle of New Orleans and James Madison to the Battle of Emuckfaw Creek and Davy Crockett. Entries range from a few paragraphs to several columns in length, and each ends with cross-references and further-reading suggestions. Black-and-white maps and occasional period portraits and other images are placed throughout; more importantly, most of the third volume is taken up by 113 full or extensively excerpted reports, treaties, and other primary-source documents, followed by further back matter including a particularly detailed chronology of the war’s political and military maneuvers. Students in search of broad analyses of the war’s short- or long-term effects–which were profound, particularly for the Shawnee confederation and other Native American groups who were, without question, the conflict’s worst victims–will have to look elsewhere, but for fine-grained historical information about precisely what happened, when, why, and to whom, the set stands out. By far the most comprehensive single source of information about the (relatively) small scale but significant War of 1812 to date, this bicentennial encyclopedia supersedes David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler’s single volume Encyclopedia of the War of 1812 (ABC-CLIO, 1997).-–John Peters, Children’s Literature Consultant, New York City