The Weight of Vengeance: The United States, the British Empire,
and the War of 1812 | By Troy Bickham | Oxford University Press
| 325 pages, $34.95 If any large-scale war in American history
has been forgotten, it is the War of 1812. The war between
Britain and the United States lasted three years and claimed the
lives of 15,000 Americans. Delaware and Arkansas have memorials
to the conflict, but the nation’s capital has not seen fit to
honor its fallen soldiers from the war with any public tribute,
even though the British burned down the White House in August
1814. One might think Washington would honor such a historic
occasion. On this, the war’s bicentennial, the War of 1812 is
especially important to recall, since it reminds us of the
dangers of going to war unprepared, without clear goals, and by
choice. Texas A&M University historian Troy Bickham makes the
case for the war’s importance in his new book, The Weight of
Vengeance. He does so by “tak[ing] a broader view of the war,
interpreting it not simply