The war of 1812 would either make America a global power sweeping all the way to the Pacificor break it into small pieces bound to mighty England. It was a second revolution of sorts to prove to the British that America had to be taken seriously. The principal actors in this drama were James and Dolley Madison and Andrew and Rachel Jackson. Their courage and determination would shape Americas destiny.

David Nevin spent his childhood on army bases scattered across the United States. On his seventeenth birthday he joined the U.S. Navy at the latter stages of World War II. Later, as a merchant marine, he spent seven years in the Pacific before he returned to the United States and became a journalist, first in Texas, then in Washington as a Life magazine correspondent. He was awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism Award. In addition to writing books on popular history for Time-Life, Nevin continues to write freelance. He is the New York Times best-selling author of Dream West, which became a seven-part miniseries.

Geoffrey Howard is a retired British journalist who strives to add warmth and clarity to every audiobook. Says Howard, "I try to bring the listener as close as possible to the experience I'm having while reading it for the first time."