Unfinished Business

The War of 1812 is a conflict that history too often leaves in the margins-overshadowed by the American Revolution before it and the Civil War after. Yet, it was a war that redefined nations, betrayed allies, and laid the groundwork for modern North American identity. In Unfinished Business, former U.S. military strategist and war historian Korey Blathewick pulls this overlooked war from the shadows, exposing the complexities, contradictions, and consequences of a clash that shaped three nations and left a legacy still felt today.

This was no mere border skirmish. It was a clash between a young, fiercely independent republic and the world's greatest imperial power. It was a struggle for sovereignty, honour, and survival-a "second war of independence" for Americans, a formative defence of homeland for Canadians, and a tragic, final resistance for many Indigenous nations. With his trademark clarity and depth, Blathewick examines ten pivotal truths that have been forgotten, misunderstood, or ignored by traditional historical narratives.

From the cruel practice of impressment-the British seizure of American sailors that became a rallying cry for war-to the political firebrands known as the War Hawks who pushed for open conflict, this book peels back the layers of patriotism and propaganda. Blathewick chronicles the failed American invasions of Canada, the heroism of Indigenous leader Tecumseh, and the burning of Washington D.C.-a symbolic humiliation that paradoxically united a fractured American public. He traces the roots of the national anthem to the bombs over Fort McHenry and examines how Andrew Jackson's legendary triumph at the Battle of New Orleans, though fought after peace had already been signed, became a mythic coda to the war.

But Unfinished Business goes deeper than the familiar highlights. It exposes the vital naval battles on the Great Lakes that decided the war's strategic direction. It unpacks the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war in a diplomatic draw but masked the true victors and losers. Most crucially, it confronts the devastating betrayal faced by Native American nations who had allied with the British in hopes of securing land and sovereignty-only to be abandoned and displaced as imperial interests shifted.

Blathewick, drawing on his decades of military insight, offers a balanced and deeply human account. He neither glorifies nor diminishes the war, instead revealing its nuanced realities: how victories were won through miscommunication, how alliances were made through desperation, and how the war's most enduring outcomes came not on the battlefield but in the evolving identity of nations.

This is a book for anyone who thinks they know the War of 1812-and especially for those who don't. It reclaims the stories behind the smoke, the silence, and the symbols, arguing that the conflict's significance goes far beyond its forgotten name. It's about sovereignty, betrayal, resilience, and memory. It's about the way wars end-and the ways they never really do.

With vivid storytelling, sharp analysis, and emotional insight, Unfinished Business is a vital reexamination of a war that helped define the continent, even as its truths remained buried. It reminds us that history's quieter battles often echo the loudest.