MR. AND MRS. MADISON'S WAR: AMERICA'S FIRST COUPLE AND THE SECOND WAR OF INDEPENDENCE by Hugh Howard
Mr. and Mrs. Madison's War: America's First Couple and the Second War of Independence by Hugh Howard
August 28, 1814. Dressed in black, James Madison mourns the nation's loss. Smoke rises from the ruins of the Capitol before him; a mile away stands the blackened shell of the White House. The British have laid waste to Washington City. As Mr. Madison gazes at the terrible vista, he ponders his country's fate in a war he began despite the unanimous objections of his political adversaries.
To some, the War of 1812 was a conflict that resolved nothing; to others, it was the second war for independence from Britain. At its center was James Madison -- our most meditative of presidents, yet the first one to declare war. At his side was the extraordinary Dolley, who defined the role of first lady for all to follow, and who would prove perhaps her husband's most indispensable ally. Together they would see the young nation through the greatest crisis between the Revolutionary War and Fort Sumter.
In this powerful work, drawing on countless primary sources, historian Hugh Howard presents a gripping account of the hostilities as James and Dolley Madison experienced them. Mr. and Mrs. Madison's War rediscovers a conflict fought on land and at sea -- from the shores of the Potomac to the Great Lakes, to the Gulf coast -- that proved to be a turning point in American history.
Bloomsbury, Hardcover, 2012
THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK. THERE IS A BLACK "CLOSEOUT/REMAINDER" MARK ON THE BOTTOM PAGE EDGES.