First published 2017
The War of 1812 throws America into chaos as citizens fight not just foreign enemies but each other over what their young nation should become. Nicole Eustace examines how Americans from all walks of life waged cultural battles while cannons fired on distant battlefields. The conflict arrives at a moment when America remains caught between its colonial past and imperial ambitions, its identity still undefined thirty years after the Revolution. Political, economic, and social tensions explode as the war intensifies existing divisions rather than healing them. Through essays from leading scholars, Eustace reveals how the democratic experiment faced its greatest test not on military fronts but in newspapers, meeting halls, and homes across the republic. The war ends in 1815, but America emerges more fractured than unified, its fundamental challenges unresolved and its national character still contested.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, political-science, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, political-intrigue
Setting: America
Period: 1812, 1815
505 pages · Kindle Edition · Omohundro Institute and UNC Press