Drawing on the Canadian War Museum’s exclusive collection of artifacts, an acclaimed historian retells the story of the War of 1812.

There is more than one side to every story—in the War of 1812, there were four. For Canadians, the War of 1812 was all about American invasions. For Americans, it was about standing up to Britain. For the British, it was an irritating sideshow to the Napoleonic Wars raging in Europe. And for Native Americans—whose presence in the war is too often forgotten—it was a desperate struggle for freedom and independence as they fought to defend their homelands.

Canadians and Americans have used the War of 1812 as a source for nation-building narratives, centred on their stories of the war. But all four groups fought and remembered their own War of 1812. Written to coincide with the two hundredth anniversary of the infamous war’s outbreak in June 2012, this beautifully designed volume recasts the conflict as a war of four perspectives, and four stories.

Including extensive photographs and maps from the Canadian War Museum’s vast collection, and text by distinguished historian Peter MacLeod, this fascinating and image-rich volume presents a broad perspective on a crucial event in Canadian history.

A major corresponding exhibit at the Canadian War Museum will run from June 15, 2012 to January 6, 2013.