Review

This latest volume in the "Greenwood Guides to Historic Events, 1500–1900" proves a very readable and useful resource. Whether for the teacher who wants to expand beyond the traditional textbook offerings, or the casual reader looking for more depth than even the best encyclopedia entries, the Heidlers provide a balanced account of the War of 1812. Perhaps best know for their highly praised work The Encyclopedia of the American Civil War, a Social, Political, and Military History, David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler have also served as editors of The Encyclopedia of the War of 1812, and co-authored Old Hickory's War: Andrew Jackson and the Quest for Empire.	1
While there has been an upsurge in scholarship on the War of 1812 in recent years, the war's causes and course still leave many confused. Such a brief conflict in comparison to the Napoleonic Wars of the time or even the Revolutionary War, the 1812–1815 conflict between the United States and Great Britain leaves many befuddled for all its brevity. The fact that later authors like Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan drew lessons from the war that served as justifications for national policy has also added further to the war's mystique as a maze of entangled purposes, intentions and outcomes. The list of unresolved issues left by the Treaty of Ghent that ended the war only adds to that image. The Heidlers seek to provide workable access to the events and causes of the war.	2
Using a format of brief entries for each aspect of the war, and organizing them in chronological order, this book offers a reference-life approach to the war. For example, the causes of the war—encompassing such diverse topics as regional U.S. politics, Britain's indifference and arrogance, as well as Napoleon's confusing policies and pronouncements—are all carefully explained. Because of a well annotated bibliography, this book would serve well as a starting point for AP-level or undergraduate students seeking to develop research projects on the war. Teachers could safely refer students to this text knowing that it would provide them a solid foundation on the war, as well as a highly useful list of sources as a starting point to begin research.	3
As in all works which seek to treat a broad and complex subject, there are issues, events, or personalities which might need more or less treatment, depending on one's inclinations. Certainly, the naval aspects of the war, especially the single-ship combats, could use more space and a livelier prose, but discussing the navy is neither the intent nor the focus of the authors of this work. Such aspects of the war have frequently been expounded upon by other writers, and to do so here would have disrupted the flow of the text and its broad focus. The book is well illustrated with portraits of some of the principles of the war, photographic reproductions some of the war's famous art, as well as several maps. Valuable too is the inclusion of the texts of some original documents from the war. A helpful glossary of terms is included, along with an index. A timeline and short biographical pieces on the main players in the drama of the war are further assets which make the book a useful resource. The binding is sturdy enough for heavy library use or even for use as a textbook.	4
Freeport High School, Freeport, Illinois Edward F. Finch

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