To the English mind the War of 1812 was only an episode in the mighty and prolonged struggle against Napoleon, and therefore it finds but cursory treatment in the standard English histories. To Canada, however, the conflict was intimate and vital, and the narratives written from this point of view are sounder and of more moment than those produced across the water. _The Canadian War of 1812_ (1906), published almost a century after the event, is the work of an Englishman, Sir Charles P. Lucas, whose lifelong service in the Colonial Office and whose thorough acquaintance with Canadian history have both been turned to the best account. Among the Canadian authors in this field are Colonel Ernest A. Cruikshank and James Hannay. To Colonel Cruikshank falls the greater credit as a pioneer with his _Documentary History of the Campaign upon the Niagara Frontier_, 8 vols. (1896-). Hannay's _How Canada Was Held for the Empire; The Story of the War of 1812_ (1905) displays careful study but is marred by the controversial and one-sided attitude which this war inspired on both sides of the border. Colonel William Wood has avoided this flaw in his _War with the United States_ (1915) which was published as a volume of the _Chronicles of Canada_ series. As a compact and scholarly survey, this little book is recommended to Americans who comprehend that there are two sides to every question. The Canadians fought stubbornly and successfully to defend their country against invasion in a war whose slogan "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights" was no direct concern of theirs. INDEX