A massive British invasion fleet nears the coast, its target a key port on the far edge of the United States. If the English capture New Orleans, they will control the entire American West – everything beyond the Alleghenies, encompassing the whole Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys. More than half the country would be at the economic mercy of the British if they control the one way the vast riches of the American west can be brought to market, down the Ohio and the Missouri to the Mississippi and thence to New Orleans and on to the world.
One man stands in the way of the British fleet and the crack infantry and artillery it carries. Born and raised on the frontier, Andrew Jackson is neither well educated nor polished, but rough and difficult. Yet he and the ragtag army of frontiersmen, pirates, Indians, slaves and French-speaking Louisianans can fight. The question is, can they fight well enough to defeat the world’s best trained, best-equipped army?
Brian Kilmeade first gained notice as a public historian with his exciting tale in George Washington’s Secret Six of the Revolutionary War spy network that helped create our nation. Kilmeade followed up with the blockbuster, Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, about our young country’s fight against a terrorist scourge.
Now my Fox News colleague has written a terrific tale about Gen. Andrew Jackson and the battle that made him a national hero and eventually brought this complex man to the White House.
It’s a grand story, briskly told with skill and Kilmeade’s exceptional eye for color and detail. If you like American history, then you’ll love Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: The Battle That Shaped America’s Destiny. Pick up this terrific read today at Amazon, Barnes & Noble.com or your local bookstore.
After three years preparing The Triumph of William McKinley by reading very little but books, letters, articles and newspapers from the Gilded Age, I’m trying to get back into my regular routine, which I’ll chronicle here with an occasional review of what I’ve read.