Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation

In the tradition of Manhunt and April 1865, Steve Vogel tells the gripping story of a pivotal three weeks in U.S. history when America's place in the world was changed forever-the story of the perilous fight that preserved the new nation at a time of grave danger, severed remaining ties with America's colonial past, and inspired the country's most indelible song: The Star-Spangled Banner. Summer, 1814: the U.S. is on the brink of defeat in an ill-advised war it declared on Britain two years earlier. The ruthless British Admiral George Cockburn launches a bold invasion to capture Washington. The British burn the White House and Capitol in an attempt to crush the American spirit. Instead, against all odds, America rallies to repulse the British at Baltimore less than three weeks later-a battle that helped change the course of the War of 1812. In a thrilling and superbly researched narrative, told from the perspectives of the colorful Admiral Cockburn-one of the great villains of American history-and the intriguing American lawyer Francis Scott Key, Vogel tells the little-known story behind a crucial moment in America's history-one that culminates in the creation of one of the United States' most enduring and emblematic creations: the National Anthem.