NewYorker.com

“What was the War of 1812 about?” this review asks.

The United States and Britain had fought a few decades earlier over independence—but the War of 1812 was not a logical successor. The Mother Country didn’t want to recolonize America. The causes for the belligerence are many, but none seems substantial enough to justify spending so much blood and treasure.

Read more at http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2012/10/22/121022crbo_books_crain (subscription required)