Tragedy and farce, bravery and cowardice, intelligence and foolishness, sense and nonsense - all these contradictions and more have characterized the War of 1812. The real significance of the series of skirmishes that collectively made up the war between 1812 and 1814 is the enormous impact they have had on Canadian and American views of themselves and of each other.

The publication of The War of 1812: The War That Both Sides Won in 1990 provided a contemporary look at the period, and included such developments as the 1975 discovery of the Hamilton and Scourge on the bottom of Lake Ontario, and the 1987 discovery of the skeletons of casualties at Snake Hill. Now, a decade later, Wesley B. Turner has updated The War of 1812 to include the volumes of new research that have come to light in recent years. All this new material has been incorporated into this interesting and informative overview of a crucial period in Canada's history.