Learn More

Although the War of 1812 is not as well remembered as some other American wars, there are plenty of good books and other resources available.

One place to start is to follow the link to read the full texts of all the primary sources used in this exhibit. Because they were all published in the nineteenth century, they are available to read free online or on your ereader through various services.

Some of these books listed below are in the public domain and should be available through the Internet Archive or GoogleBooks. Finding a copy of some of the other books or journal articles may require a trip to your local library.

Washington History

  • Wilhemus Bogart Bryan. A History of the National Capital from Its Foundation Through the Period of the Adoption of the Organic Act. Vol. 1. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1914.
  • Donald E. Graves. “Why the White House Was Burned: An Investigation into the British Destruction of Public Buildings at Washington in August 1814.” Journal of Military History 76, no. 4 (October 2012): 1095–1127.
  • Patricia Kelly. “Washington in Ruins.” American Art 25, no. 3 (2011): 112–125
  • Anthony S. Pitch. The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 1998.
  • Margaret Bayard Smith. The First Forty Years of Washington Society. Scribner, 1906.
  • Anne Hollingsworth Wharton. Social life in the early republic. Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1902.
  • Any issue of the journal Washington History, formerly called The Records of the Columbia Historical Society, published by the Historical Society of Washington, D.C..

War of 1812