Back to Results
Cover image of The Dawn's Early Light
Cover image of The Dawn's Early Light
Share this Title:

The Dawn's Early Light

Walter Lord
with a new foreword by Scott S. Sheads

Publication Date
Binding Type

The heart-pounding tale of the events leading up to and including the Battle of Baltimore and the defense of Fort McHenry.

In the summer of 1814, enemy naval and ground forces made a coordinated assault on Washington, DC, capital of the new republic, and then set their sights on Baltimore, home port to some of the most rapacious American privateers on the high seas. In The Dawn's Early Light, Walter Lord captures these events during the War of 1812.

A native Baltimorean, Lord wrote with great force and feeling of the subsequent defense of Fort McHenry, the circumstances of Francis Scott Key’s...

The heart-pounding tale of the events leading up to and including the Battle of Baltimore and the defense of Fort McHenry.

In the summer of 1814, enemy naval and ground forces made a coordinated assault on Washington, DC, capital of the new republic, and then set their sights on Baltimore, home port to some of the most rapacious American privateers on the high seas. In The Dawn's Early Light, Walter Lord captures these events during the War of 1812.

A native Baltimorean, Lord wrote with great force and feeling of the subsequent defense of Fort McHenry, the circumstances of Francis Scott Key’s writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner," and the rebirth of a young country. Students consider this book to be one of the best short narratives of the Chesapeake campaign.

This reissue of The Dawn's Early Light celebrates the bicentennial of the Battle of Baltimore. Scott S. Sheads, a National Park Service ranger and specialist on the event, introduces the book, which will remain a popular favorite for years to come.

Reviews

Reviews

Still the best account available of the two key battles of the War of 1812... brings the 1814 battles around Washington and Baltimore to life, making them seem terrifying and critical, as they must have seemed to Marylanders at the time.

One of the very best books on the War of 1812 ever written.

This reissue of The Dawn's Early Light celebrates the bicentennial of the Battle of Baltimore. Scott S. Sheads, a National Park Service ranger and specialist on the event, introduces the book, which will remain a popular favorite for years to come.

Compelling and often riveting, The Dawn’s Early Light employs a journalistic style that imparts facts while retaining a sense of sensationalism and dramatic color.

About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
5.5
x
8.5
Pages
400
ISBN
9781421405476
Illustration Description
29 b&w photos
Table of Contents

Foreword, by Scott S. Sheads
Preface
1. Sails on the Chesapeake
2. "Chastise the Savages"
3. Face to Face
4. Sleepless Hours
5. Time Runs Out
6. Bladensburg
7. Ordeal by Fire
8. Shock Waves
9. Focus on

Foreword, by Scott S. Sheads
Preface
1. Sails on the Chesapeake
2. "Chastise the Savages"
3. Face to Face
4. Sleepless Hours
5. Time Runs Out
6. Bladensburg
7. Ordeal by Fire
8. Shock Waves
9. Focus on Baltimore
10. North Point
11. For McHenry
12. Britain Struggles with Herself
12. "The Dawn's Early Light"
Acknowledgments
Chapter Notes
Index

Author Bios
Featured Contributor

Walter Lord

Walter Lord (1917–2002) was an American author best known for his documentary-style nonfiction account A Night to Remember, about the sinking of the RMS Titanic.