Walter Lord--author of such best-sellers as "A Night to Remember" and "A Day of Infamy"--brings to life the remarkable events of what we now call The
War of 1812--including the burning of Washington and the attack on Baltimore's
Fort McHenry that inspired the
Francis Scott Key to write what would become our national anthem. Lord gives readers a dramatic account of how a new sense of national identity emerged from the smoky haze of what Francis Scott Key so lyrically called "the dawn's early light."
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Background Information
Sometimes called the second American war for independence, the War of 1812 was the last battle against foreign troops on American soil. Fort McHenry was attacked by the British during the War of 1812 and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. Francis Scott Key was being held by the British when he watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry and was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner.
