Constitution vs Guerriere - Frigates during the War of 1812

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Book Title:
Constitution vs Guerriere - Frigates during the War of 1812
Author:
Mark Lardas
ISBN:
978-1-84603-434-3
Category:
History
Format:
Paperback
Summary:
Constitution vs Guerriere is one of the titles in Osprey's Duel series. The book describes frigate design and development, the strategic situation of the time surrounding the engagement, technical specifications of frigates, information on the different combatants (men and officers), the duel itself, and statistics and analysis of the engagement.

This book is far more a primer on age-of-sail than a narrow treatise on the engagement between the two titled frigates. The author describes how sails work, the differences in cannons, issues of life onboard ship, brief bios of various officers, differences between the two navies, etc.. In addition to the titled engagement, the author provides accounts of the other frigate duels during the War of 1812. As is typical with Osprey books, the production value is quite high, with pictures, charts, and diagrams throughout the entire book.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is starting to learn about the age-of-sail, or for anyone interested in the frigate duels of the War of 1812. The background information in the first part of the book makes the descriptions of the duels accessible and aids the reader in understanding the decisions of the captains. At a little under 80 pages of text, it might not provide new knowledge to the well-read, but it is well-written and short enough to make for a nice afternoon reading, regardless.

I own this book, so if you ever need anything from it or others I have, please let me know. Other titles can be found in my photo albums - Age of Sail Library (non-fiction and fiction).