Welcomed as a long-awaited and much-needed reference work when introduced in hardcover in 1997, this popular encyclopedia is now available in paperback. Rich with maps and primary-source documents, this large-format work includes more than five hundred entries from nearly eighty scholars. The entries are both authoritative and easily accessible, and will be of interest to history buffs, students and general readers alike. They describe key military actions, profile important participants, assess developments in military science, and discuss the social and financial impact of the war, a conflict that Americans thought demonstrated their ability to defy Britain's demands and to fight Napoleon's conquerors to a draw. Appendices offer a wealth of additional information, and include the text of such vital documents as the Embargo Act and President James Madison's War Message of 1812, votes in Congress, a chronology from 1805 to 1815, and a Glossary of military, diplomatic and nautical terms. Cross-references, a bibliography and an index support the volume, which is illustrated by eighty-nine photographs and twenty-eight line drawings.