North America's forgotten civil war:
The War of 1812 is an uncertain affair in American memory and legend. Its touchstones -- the composition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the burning of Washington -- tend to overshadow the roots and consequences of the three-year conflict. Historian Alan Taylor offers a corrective in "The Civil War of 1812," arguing that the United States used the war to consolidate its victory in the American Revolution and become a fully sovereign nation.