Through the Perilous Fight By Steve Vogel

THROUGH THE PERILOUS FIGHT Six Weeks That Saved the Nation By Steve Vogel "Probably the best piece of military history that I have read or reviewed in the past five years.... No one who hears the national anthem at a ballgame will ever think of it the same way after reading this book, nor want the national anthem changed." --Gary Anderson in The Washington Times "Vogel does a superb job of bringing this woeful tale to life. He leavens his fast-paced narrative with lively vignettes of the principal participants in this folly.... Vogel's story takes on dramatic intensity...." --Joyce Appleby in The Washington Post

In THROUGH THE PERILOUS FIGHT: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation [Random House] Washington Post reporter Steve Vogel tells the gripping, little-known story of a pivotal six weeks in U.S. history - the perilous fight that preserved the new nation at a time of grave danger, severed remaining ties with America's colonial past, and inspired the country's most indelible song: "The Star-Spangled Banner." Summer, 1814: the United States is on the brink of defeat in an ill-advised war it declared on Britain two years earlier. The ruthless British Admiral George Cockburn conceives a strike on Washington as a blow to win the war and leave Britain dominant in North America. A bold British invasion captures Washington, leaving the White House and Capitol as smoldering ruins. But when the British try to deliver a knockout blow three weeks later at Baltimore, Americans rally to repulse the invaders and in so doing, preserve the young nation's future. Superbly researched and filled with maps, illustrations and portraits, THROUGH THE PERILOUS FIGHT brings history into vivid relief, including the colossal blunders in Washington as the British approached, James and Dolley Madison's flight from the White House, and the brave defense of Baltimore by citizen soldiers. As the nation approaches the 200th anniversary of "The Star Spangled Banner" in 2014, THROUGH THE PERILOUS FIGHT serves as the definitive account of the dramatic events that that led to its creation. In an interview on THROUGH THE PERILOUS FIGHT, Vogel can discuss: The story of how The Star-Spangled Banner became both an anthem and a symbol - As a passionate opponent of the war, attorney Francis Scott Key was an unlikely candidate to write the most patriotic of all American songs. With new facts that shatter myths, Vogel explains why Key's song struck such an immediate and emotional chord, "going viral" around the country, and transforming the American flag into the preeminent symbol of the nation's identity and ideals. The burning of Washington as a shock that united the nation - The torching of the White House and the Capitol dealt a heavy blow to the young national psyche, making the survival of Baltimore weeks later critical.Key's eyewitness description of the American flag flying over Fort McHenry after the tremendous British bombardment created an indelible image for a shaken nation, not unlike the American flags raised at Iwo Jima and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The President as commander-in-chief - For all his genius as architect of the Constitution, the job of commander-in-chief proved challenging for James Madison. Strapping on pistols and riding out to face the British troops attacking the capital, Madison nearly became the first American president captured or killed in battle. Yet at the lowest moment after the burning of Washington, Madison rose to the occasion, resisting calls for capitulation and demands to abandon the capital. The legacy of the War of 1812 - This often forgotten and misunderstood conflict represented a definitive end to the American Revolution, one that finally established U.S. sovereignty a generation after the war for independence. The United States survived the perilous fight with Admiral Cockburn - one of the most formidable foes the country had ever faced - to forge an enduring, two-century-long peace with Britain. With two compelling lead characters - Admiral Cockburn and Francis Scott Key - and a breakneck narrative that includes brilliantly rendered cameos by James Monroe and many others, THROUGH THE PERILOUS FIGHT is a thrilling story that reads like fiction. About the author: Steve Vogel is the author of The Pentagon and a national reporter for The Washington Post. He has written extensively about military affairs and the treatment of veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. His reporting about the war in Afghanistan was part of a package of Washington Post stories selected as a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize.