When Britain Burned the White House: The 1814 Invasion of Washington

In time for the event’s 200th anniversary, British journalist Snow (To War with Wellington) delivers a new telling of how the British Army set the White House on fire. As Snow acknowledges, many historians have tackled the subject before, and his version adds little of moment to what we already know and takes no novel approach. Yet never before has this story been told more fully or more engagingly, with greater empathy for both sides, or with greater balance. The story is familiar enough: the British enter the Chesapeake, attack and burn the nation’s incompetently defended seat of government (including the Capitol and White House), then move on to Baltimore, where they’re defeated on land and at sea before Ft. McHenry. A national humiliation is then redeemed. The British withdraw, and peace soon ensues. Snow dug deeply into records and reminiscences and, especially for the British side, brought the combatants, simple and august, alive. The pace is brisk, the characterizations sure, the judgments done with a light touch. The book distinguishes itself by rounding off the story of Washington with the subsequent Baltimore attack—both part of the larger British Chesapeake campaign. For the story of that campaign, this is now the narrative to read. (Aug.)