Publisher's Weekly Review

"Daughan follows his award-winning If By Sea, about the American navy in the Revolutionary War, with a solidly researched, well-crafted account of U.S. sea power in the War of 1812. ..........The navy's performance convinced critics that a strong navy was indispensable to its protection and did not threaten the Constituion. Second, the performances of individual warships generated increasing British respect, both in the Royal Navy and in the administration, for American abilities at sea. Over the previous century, British warships had come to assume superiority in single-ship actions. Such fights as Constituiton versus Guerrier impelled rethinking the subject. Finally, the successes of American privateers against British shipping drove costs higher than the business community was willing to accept without protest. The treaty ending the war provided numerous unresolved grounds for renewed conflict. What kept the peace, Daughan argues provocatively, was America's postwar commitment to 'a strong navy, an adequate professional army, and the finacial reform necesssary to support them'--in other words, an effective deterrent."...............................Publisher's Weekly August 1, 2011