The book was thoroughly engaging and a decent primer to the Battle to New Orleans. It was an easy airport read. However, it felt like the author could have come up for a second from his effusive praise for Jackson and derision of everyone who disagreed with him. While the author acknowledges some of the more questionable decisions Jackson made outside of the Battle, he quickly tosses them aside. Yes this is supposed to be about the Battle, but if you are going to talk about the other things, talk about them.

The lack of a fully realized argument, the pedestrian writing, the mediocre history–all three made me wonder, who exactly is the audience for this book?

Full review here: https://jacksonianamerica.com/2017/12/14/review-of-kilmeade-and-yaegers-jackson-book/

This reads more like a thriller novel that will keep you up half the night than the history it actually is. Because it was so different from the nonfiction history books I usually read, I was initially unsure whether I would like it when I started reading, but once I got into it I couldn't stop reading. And because it is about the defense of New Orleans during the War of 1812, I already knew how it ended!

One thing I've noticed about the War of 1812 in general is that most of the accounts seem to be somewhat biased, although I suppose that comes with the territory - an inconclusive war in which no territory changed hands and the treaty ended it was basically an agreement to end hostilities and did not even address the casus belli (and British and American historians even disagree on whether the fact that the British rules about impressment were technically rescinded before the start of hostilities meant the whole war had no real basis). And "The Great Compromiser" Henry Clay, who helped negotiate the treaty didn't approve of it either. From what I could see this tended toward the American point of view, although the British point of view was not completely ignored. Most interestingly, the book pointed out that to Great Britain and most of the rest of Europe, the Louisiana Purchase was not seen as a legitimate acquisition of territory by the United States - to most of Europe, Napoleon had stolen the land from Spain and had no right to sell it.

Another interesting tidbit: Thomas ap Catesby Jones, the US Navy commander who worked with Jackson to defend New Orleans, was the inspiration for Commodore J- in Moby Dick.

I really enjoyed this book. I was not looking for a deep dive into Andrew Jackson or even the War of 1812, but I wanted to better understand the Battle and the significance it has taken in American History. This book did just that and encouraged me to dig a little deeper into this era.
Having read Washington's biography a year ago, it is interesting to see Andrew Jackson's prominence in American History. Other reviewers have expressed concern about how this book "whitewashes" certain things, but if you want a quick understanding of what was going on this is a good choice.
-- I enjoyed the pictures; many of which I've never seen before. Very nice
-- I enjoyed the maps
-- The epilogue was helpful as well, tieing back to the celebration many years later. It is hard to imagine a world where you can't just hop on a plane and visit somewhere. It really makes me appreciate our modern technological age.
-- I read most of this book via hardcover, with a couple chapters via Kindle. This is the first Library book I've checked out in a Looooong time. Thank you to our county system for providing this book.

Enlightening review of the events that led up to the Battle of New Orleans - I had no idea the War of 1812 was such a close-run thing!