Historical Dictionary of the War of 1812

“Don't mention the War of 1812” must surely be the order of the day whenever a British Prime Minister visits a United States President. The Prime Minister would promise not to mention that during the war British forces had burned the White House, while the President would try to forget that his country's national anthem commemorated another British onslaught of that period. Both episodes are of course included among the thousand or so entries (ranging in length from 20 to 1,200 words) in this substantial dictionary.

Even at the time, as the dictionary shows, many politicians on both sides were...