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bowienerd_82's review
3.0
I appreciate that the author was taking this book on as a social history of the War of 1812 from the Canadian perspective, and that it was so centered on the people involved. He covered an impressively wide range of those involved, including people on all sides of the war (and several folks who didn't want be involved in the war at all). I was also pleased by the conclusion, which hit a happy medium of wrapping things up and reflecting on the war's place in history, without going on too long or straying from the book's main themes.
But I have to admit this one did not suck me in. It was getting to be a chore finishing it by the end, as there were just so many people, many of whom populated just a page or two, and yet got a whole mini biography in that time. I had trouble keeping track of who was who, and which side they were on, because there were so many names.
And even if the author insists that he was writing entirely off of primary source documents, it still felt a little too much like speculation and fictionalized accounts when he wrote about what people were thinking and feeling at each moment.
An interesting book, and one worth reading, but I feel it could have used a bit more editing to make it stronger and more readable.
But I have to admit this one did not suck me in. It was getting to be a chore finishing it by the end, as there were just so many people, many of whom populated just a page or two, and yet got a whole mini biography in that time. I had trouble keeping track of who was who, and which side they were on, because there were so many names.
And even if the author insists that he was writing entirely off of primary source documents, it still felt a little too much like speculation and fictionalized accounts when he wrote about what people were thinking and feeling at each moment.
An interesting book, and one worth reading, but I feel it could have used a bit more editing to make it stronger and more readable.
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