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and American historians even disagree on whether the fact that the British rules about impressment were technically rescinded before the start of hostilities meant the whole war had no real basis).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.