The Challenge
eBook - ePub

The Challenge

Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Challenge

Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812

About this book

In the summer of 1812 Britain stood alone, fighting for her very survival against a vast European Empire. Only the Royal Navy stood between Napoleon's legions and ultimate victory. In that dark hour America saw its chance to challenge British dominance: her troops invaded Canada and American frigates attacked British merchant shipping, the lifeblood of British defence.

War polarised America. The south and west wanted land, the north wanted peace and trade. But America had to choose between the oceans and the continent. Within weeks the land invasion had stalled, but American warships and privateers did rather better, and astonished the world by besting the Royal Navy in a series of battles.

Then in three titanic single ship actions the challenge was decisively met. British frigates closed with the Chesapeake, the Essex and the President, flagship of American naval ambition. Both sides found new heroes but none could equal Captain Philip Broke, champion of history's greatest frigate battle, when HMS Shannon captured the USS Chesapeake in thirteen blood-soaked minutes. Broke's victory secured British control of the Atlantic, and within a year Washington, D.C. had been taken and burnt by British troops.

Andrew Lambert, Laughton Professor of Naval History in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, brings all his mastery of the subject and narrative brilliance to throw new light on a war which until now has been much mythologised, little understood.

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Yes, you can access The Challenge by Andrew Lambert in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Military & Maritime History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Faber & Faber
Year
2012
eBook ISBN
9780571273218
Edition
0

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Table of Contents
  5. List of Maps and Illustrations
  6. List of Plates
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Introduction
  9. CHAPTER 1 : Flashpoints
  10. CHAPTER 2 : Going for Broke
  11. CHAPTER 3 : Looking for a Way Out
  12. CHAPTER 4 : Waiting for the President
  13. CHAPTER 5 : Many Ways to Die
  14. CHAPTER 6 : Securing the Seas: The American Attack on British Trade
  15. CHAPTER 7 : The Price of Folly
  16. CHAPTER 8 : World-Wide War
  17. CHAPTER 9 : Burning the White House: Punishing the Republicans
  18. CHAPTER 10 : Taking the President
  19. CHAPTER 11 : Making Peace: War Aims, Strategy and the Balance of Power
  20. CHAPTER 12 : Creating the American War of 1812
  21. CHAPTER 13 : The Challenge Answered
  22. APPENDIX : The Frigates of 1812
  23. Bibliography
  24. General Index
  25. Index of Ships
  26. Plates
  27. About the Author
  28. By the Same Author
  29. Copyright