Perilous Fight; America's Intrepid War with Britain on the High Seas, 1812-1815

New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010. Book Club Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Dave Merrill (Maps). xvi, 422, [6] pages. Includes listing of eight black and white Maps and Diagrams, Prologue, Notes, Bibliography, and Index. Also contains 11 pages of color images of ships, American captains, and British admirals. Stephen Budiansky is an American writer, historian, and biographer. He is also the author of a number of scholarly publications about the history of cryptography, military and intelligence history. Budiansky joined the staff of the science journal Nature as Washington correspondent and later served as its Washington editor. In 1985-86 he was a Congressional Fellow at the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment, where he co-authored a study of advanced conventional weapons technologies as a means for reducing NATO's reliance on nuclear deterrence. In 1986 Budiansky joined the staff of U.S. News & World Report, where he worked for twelve years in a variety of writing and editing positions, covering science and national security issues. He ultimately served as the magazine's deputy editor, the No. 3 editorial position. Since 1998 Budiansky has been a full-time author and free-lance contributor to publications including the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Economist. His writing has focused on intellectual biography and military history. From 2007 to 2008 he was the editor of World War II magazine, where he oversaw a complete redesign and brought in well-known writers and historians to contribute to the publication. He is also a member of the editorial board of Cryptologia, the scholarly journal of codes and codebreaking. In this book, Stephen Budiansky tells the rousing story of the underdog coterie of American seamen and their visionary secretary of the navy, who combined bravery and strategic innovation to hold off the legendary royal Navy. The author vividly demonstrates that far from an indecisive Dan unnecessary conflicts historians have lon;g dismissed the war of 1812--this "forgotten war" had profound consequences that would change the course of naval warfare, America's place in the world, and the rules of international conflict forever. Above all, the war of 1812 would be the making of the United States Navy. After the war, Americans would never again doubt that their might, respect, and very survival depended upon a permanent and professional navy. Derived from a Kirkus review: This early entry in the likely flood of books on the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 focuses on the naval action. Journalist and military historian Budiansky notes that 1812 has as good a claim as any American war to the title "the forgotten war"-understandably, considering that it was at best a draw for the United States. In Jefferson's administration, the government wasn't sure it needed a navy at all; only the Barbary pirates seemed to justify keeping a few warships. Attitudes changed when Britain, embroiled in its war against Napoleon, began raiding American ships for sailors. A British ban on American merchants trading with France also gave the U.S. a casus belli. Britain's refusal to concede these points resulted in open conflict, during which America was effectively forced to invent a navy from bare bones. American sailors gave a good account of themselves in the early going. But William Jones, recruited to serve as Secretary of the Navy, recognized that single-ship duels were a losing strategy and issued orders to concentrate on commerce raiding. Consequently, for the majority of the war, American privateers and commerce raiders preyed on British ships, from the Pacific whaling grounds to the Irish Sea. Budiansky gives a solid account of all major naval actions and a fine picture of the personalities of the key figures-especially the proud American captains William Bainbridge, Stephen Decatur and Isaac Hull, and their British counterparts. The author also looks at the fate of American prisoners of war and at the larger political issues behind the war. The Treaty of Ghent brought the war to an end early in 1815, with Britain formally conceding none of the American demands. In practice, the impressments of American sailors ceased, ending the major bone of contention. Budiansky sees the result as an early example of asymmetric war, in which a weaker power prolongs the conflict by choosing to fight only on favorable terms until its opponent grows tired of the exercise. Highly readable and especially useful as an overview of the early days of the U.S. Navy.