Additional Resources

Still interested in the War of 1812? This list can offer you and your students further reading and online resources to explore.

Online Resources for Kids
Online Resources for Adults
Books for Kids
Books for Adults
Our Favorites: Various Online Resources

Online Resources for Kids

Online Resources for Adults

Books for Kids

  • Biesty, Stephen and Richard Platt. Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections Man-of-War. New York: Dorling Kindersley Books, 1993.
    A children's book with captivating details in the labels of drawings that show the insides and outsides of a ship-of-the-line, ancestor of the modern battleship. Stephen Biesty was also the illustrator behind the scenes of A Sailor's Life for Me.
  • Black, Judith. Hell for a Picnic. Audio. Yellow Moon Press, 1985. The story of an orphan who enlists on Constitution in search of his father. Available through jbtales@shore.net or from Judith Black.
  • Brown, Duncan. The Monkey's Constitution. Carlisle, MA: Discovery Enterprises Ltd. 1997.
    Illustrated story of a powder monkey's role aboard ship during Constitution's engagement with HMS Guerriere.
  • Carter, Alden R. The War of 1812 (Second Fight for Independence). New York: Franklin Watts Publishers, 1992.
    A children's book describing the War of 1812, and its significance.
  • Greeson, Janet. An American Army of Two. Paperback edition. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 1992.
    The story of two ingenious women based on a real event, and brings to life one town's experience during the War of 1812.
  • Morris, Richard B. The War of 1812. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1985.
    An illustrated children's book introducing the people and events that transformed the 13 colonies into a unified nation.
  • Warrick, Karen Clemens. The War of 1812: We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Ours. Berkeley Heights, N.J.: Enslow Publishers, 2002.
  • Weitzman, David. "Old Ironsides" - Americans Build a Fighting Ship. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997.
    Illustrated book following a young boy (John Aylwin) as he watches and helps build Constitution.

For more books on the War of 1812, and specifically the Star Spangled Banner, visit the Smithsonian's Resources for Kids from the Star Spangled Banner.

Books for Adults

  • Adams, Henry. History of the United States of America during the Administrations of Jefferson and Madison. 9 Vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1889-1891.
  • Altoff, Gerard T. Amongst My Best Men: African Americans and the War of 1812. Put-in-Bay, OH: The Perry Group, 1996.
    A study of blacks in the military in the early years of our nation.
  • Altoff, Gerard T. Oliver Hazard Perry and the Battle of Lake Erie. Revised edition. Put-in-Bay, OH: The Perry Group, 1999.
  • Benn, Carl. The Iroquois in the War of 1812. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998.
  • Berton, Pierre. The Invasion of Canada, 1812-1813. Toronto: McLelland and Stewart, 1980.
  • Bolster, W. Jeffrey. Black Jacks—African American Seamen in the Age of Sail. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.
    Defines early African American history as maritime history; highlights how common experiences drew black and white sailors together and documents how the meaning of race aboard ship changed over time.
  • Collins, Gilbert. Guidebook to the Historic Sites of the War of 1812. 2nd Edition. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2006.
  • Dale, Ronald J. The Invasion of Canada: The Battles of the War of 1812. Toronto: James Lorimer & Co., 2001.
  • DePauw, Linda Grant. Seafaring Women. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982.
  • Accounts of adventures of American women and their roles (as wives and mothers) aboard sailing ships.
  • Heidler, David S., and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Encyclopedia of the War of 1812. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 1997.
  • Hickey, Donald R. Don't Give Up the Ship! Myths of the War of 1812. Champaign. Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2006.
  • Hickey, Donald R. The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict. Champaign. Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1989.
  • Forester, C.S. The Age of Fighting Sail. 1956. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc.
    A short account of the War of 1812
  • Fowler Jr., William M. Jack Tars and Commodores: The American Navy 1783-1815. 1984. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
  • The United States Navy from following America's independence from Great Britain and through the War of 1812.
  • Graves, Donald E. Field of Glory: The Battle of Crysler's Farm, 1813. Toronto: Robin Brass Studio, 1999.
  • Graves, Donald E. Red Coats and Grey Jackets: The Battle of Chippawa, 1814. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1994.
  • Graves, Donald E. Where Right and Glory Lead! The Battle of Lundy's Lane, 1814. Toronto: Robin Brass Studio, 1997.
  • Langguth, A. J. Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence. New York : Simon & Schuster, 2006.
  • Malcomson, Robert. Lords of the Lake: The Naval War on Lake Ontario, 1812-1814. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998.
  • Martin, Tyrone G. Creating a Legend. Chapel Hill: Tryon Publishing, 1997.
    The authorization, design, construction, and launching of Constitution.
  • Martin, Tyrone G. A Most Fortunate Ship, A Narrative History of "Old Ironsides". Revision. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1997.
    A nearly complete biography of USS Constitution, written by a naval officer who served as her captain.
  • Martin, Tyrone G. Undefeated: "Old Ironsides" in the War of 1812. Chapel Hill: Tryon Publishing Co., 1996.
    Constitution's three battles in the War of 1812, with battle diagrams by award-winning artist Captain John Charles Roach, USNR.
  • Melville, Herman. White Jacket or the World in a Man of War. Reprint (paperback) of 1850 text. Evanston and Chicago: Northwestern University Press and Newberry Library, 3rd printing, 1988.
    A fictional account of life in the Navy based upon the Herman Melville's service on USS United States.
  • Remini, Robert V. The Battle of New Orleans. New York: Viking, 1999.
    Roosevelt, Theodore. The Naval War of 1812. Reprint edition. New York: Modern Library, 1999.
  • Skaggs, David Curtis and Gerard T. Altoff. A Signal Victory: The Lake Erie Campaign, 1812-1813. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1997.
  • Stagg, John C.A. Mr. Madison's War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American Republic, 1783-1830. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1983.

Our Favorites: Various Online Resources

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