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The Burning of Washington - The British Invasion of 1814
   by Anthony S. Pitch. Naval Institue Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1998.

  The British invasion of Washington D.C., in the summer of 1814 was a defining moment in the coming-of-age of the United States. The British torched the capitol, the White House, and many other public builings, setting off an inferno that illuminated the countryside for miles and forced President James Madison to gallop out of town while his wife, Dolly, stayed behind to rescue a life-size portrait of George Washington from the flames. Anthony Pitch tells the dramatic story with all the immediacy of an eye-witness account. His gripping narrative is filled details of the attack, including the exact location of scorch marks still to be found on White House stones. But Pitch doesn't confine his story to Washington. He also describes the brave, resourceful defense of nearby Fort McHenry, circumstances that led Francis Scott Key, a detainee on a British warship in the Baltimore harbor during the fort's bombardment, to write a poem that became the national anthem.
  Hailed by critics and the general public, The Burning of Washington was a selection of the History Book Club and was named top book of 1998 by the American Library Association, and more recently was named co-winner of the Maryland Historical Societies Annual Book Prize. The author is well known for his anecdotal history tours of the nation's capitol.

"As good as historical re-creation gets"
---Gilbert M. Grosvenor, National Geographic Society

"Extemely well written, with a wealth of original material".
---Rex Scouten, former White House curator

"Masterful. Reminds me of a 'Masterpiece Theatre series in the sweeping nature and authoritative tone of it's story".
---Dr. Donald Ritchie, U.S. Senate historian


Indexed, 298 pp.,b&w illustrations.
 

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