The Dawn's Early Light by Walter Lord

Award winning Walter Lord, author of "A Night to Remember" and other historic masterpieces, writes of the "climatic shaping of 'the land of the free' during the hazardous events of 1814 in Washington, Baltimore, and London." James Monroe, as Secretary of War, is both foolish and magnificent, Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison, who actually fought in the war, has the presence of mind to rescue the portrait of George Washington before abandoning the White House, the numerous British generals, who show a degree of compassion in battling Washington, DC, while giving no quarter in their intended destruction of Baltimore, and Francis Scott Key, not only known for his writing of our national anthem, shows resolve in floating down the Patapsco to offer a truce.
America's second war of independence, is detailed in the minds and thoughts of those who were there. When reading great historic description, one cannot help but wonder whether the United States today would engage in such determination to preserve our freedoms from tyranny.