One recently published book on the subject is AJ Langguth's "Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence."
I am ashamed to say that I have not yet read this book, but I have found his book on the American Revolution ("Patriots: The Men Who Started the American Revolution.") to be enlightening and objective.
As a former investigator I certainly agree with Father Bill when he says, "generally there are three points of view: yours, mine, and the truth somewhere between the two others." This has been my mantra for about 35 years.
In 1974 I decided to join my local reenacting group to celebrate the American Revolution's Bicentennial and to assist in my personal transformation from warrior to college student. As luck would have it my local group was a Loyalist unit and I quickly learned that there are indeed many sides to every story.
A very interesting, and little known (in the USA), series of events in the Mexican American War illustrates this. The San Patricio Brigade, made up of many non-Mexicans and many Irish Catholic Americans, fought for the Mexican government. Today these men are memorialized all over Mexico and by a statue in Ireland. However the US Army apparently even denied the existance of this unit until 1915. The story of this unit was made into a movie starring Tom Berringer, called "One Man's Hero", after the phrase that "one man's hero is another man's traitor".
My experience and research indicates that rarely are events, wars, political events, etc. as clear cut as we would like them to be. However our leaders are bound and determined to make them as cut and dried as possible.
Virtually everyone on this forum has a vested interest of some sort in the War of 1812. We cannot deny the events that have occurred, nor can we redo them. However, perhaps with an open mind, we can truly learn from them.
Peace.
Si Deus, quis contra? Spence and Brown on my mother's side, Johnston from my father, proud member of Clan MacDuff!
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