Jeremy Black, The War of 1812 in the age of Napoleon, Continuum, 2010, hardback, 256 pp, £25.00, ISBN 9780826436122

Dedicated to William Hague, who since this book went to press has now assumed responsibility for Britain's conduct of Anglo-American relations in the second decade of the twenty-first century, Professor Jeremy Black's magisterial survey of the only conflict in the second decade of the nineteenth century between Britain and the United States of America since the War of American Independence gives centre stage to an episode in international relations which usually receives only passing reference in standard British texts dealing with the wider impact of the Napoleonic Wars. As such this lively, in-depth analysis of the causes, conduct and consequences of this whirlwind war which saw the burning of the Capitol and the White House by British forces and the decisive naval battle of New Orleans, is to be warmly welcomed. It synthesizes consummately an impressive range of both primary and secondary sources from both sides of the Atlantic in the well-practised manner of this most prolific and accomplished military historian. It seems churlish to cavil at such a comprehensive treatment of a relatively unfamiliar episode in international relations, but more perhaps might have been made, beyond the brief reference to the Luddite riots in a single sentence on page 76, of the exacerbation of the problems facing the textile industry in the West Riding and elsewhere arising from Britain's dual conflict with Napoleon's recently acquired European empire and Britain's recently relinquished transatlantic empire, but maybe this is already the subject of Jeremy Black's next book!