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About - Through The Perilous Fight

In a rousing account of one of the critical turning points in American history, "Through the Perilous Fight" tells the gripping story of the burning of Washington and the improbable last stand at Baltimore that helped save the nation and inspired its National Anthem.

In the summer of 1814, the United States of America teetered on the brink of disaster. The war it had declared against Great Britain two years earlier appeared headed toward inglorious American defeat. The young nation’s most implacable nemesis, the ruthless British Admiral George Cockburn, launched an invasion of Washington in a daring attempt to decapitate the government and crush the American spirit. The British succeeded spectacularly, burning down most of the city’s landmarks—including the White House and the Capitol—and driving President James Madison from the area. As looters ransacked federal buildings and panic gripped the citizens of Washington, beleaguered American forces were forced to regroup for a last-ditch defense of Baltimore. The outcome of that “perilous fight” would help change the outcome of the war—and with it, the fate of the fledgling American republic.

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    Steve Vogel’s “The Perilous Fight” is probably the best piece of military history that I have read or reviewed in the past five years…This well-researched and superbly written history has all the trappings of a good novel.
    Gary Anderson - Special to The Washington Times
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    In “Through the Perilous Fight,” Steve Vogel does a superb job of bringing this woeful tale to life. He leavens his fast-paced narrative with lively vignettes of the principal participants in this folly.
    Joyce Appelby - The Washington Post
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    The War of 1812 remains one of the most important and least appreciated events in American history. In these engaging pages, Steve Vogel does much to rectify that, telling the story of a critical episode of the conflict with eloquence and insight.
    Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power"
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    Before 9/11 was 1814—the year the enemy burned the nation’s capital. Steve Vogel gives a splendid account, fast-paced and detailed, of the uncertainty, the peril and the valor of those days.
    Richard Brookhiser, author of "James Madison"
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    Very fine storytelling, impeccably researched. Through the Perilous Fight brings to life the fraught events of 1814 with compelling and convincing vigor.
    Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize winning author of "An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943"
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    A swift, vibrant account of the accidents, intricacies and insanities of war.
    Kirkus Reviews
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    Vogel…superbly dramatizes a campaign whose legacy is “The Star-Spangled Banner,” both the anthem and the flag for which it stands, today displayed in Washington.
    Booklist
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    This is a high academic achievement but it reads so well you will think it is a fast-paced novel. Surely this work will become the premiere source for anyone wanting to know the essential story of the national anthem, and the fascinating tale of how six weeks of war saved the nation.
    Lincoln Journal Star

About - Through The Perilous Fight

In a rousing account of one of the critical turning points in American history, "Through the Perilous Fight" tells the gripping story of the burning of Washington and the improbable last stand at Baltimore that helped save the nation and inspired its National Anthem.

In the summer of 1814, the United States of America teetered on the brink of disaster. The war it had declared against Great Britain two years earlier appeared headed toward inglorious American defeat. The young nation’s most implacable nemesis, the ruthless British Admiral George Cockburn, launched an invasion of Washington in a daring attempt to decapitate the government and crush the American spirit. The British succeeded spectacularly, burning down most of the city’s landmarks—including the White House and the Capitol—and driving President James Madison from the area. As looters ransacked federal buildings and panic gripped the citizens of Washington, beleaguered American forces were forced to regroup for a last-ditch defense of Baltimore. The outcome of that “perilous fight” would help change the outcome of the war—and with it, the fate of the fledgling American republic.

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