Kniga Teodora Ruzvelta yavlyaetsya detal'nym issledovaniem voyno-morskikh operatsiy vo vremya voyny 1812 goda mezhdu Soedinennymi Shtatami Ameriki i Velikobritaniey. Avtor postavil pered soboy zadachu napisat' bespristrastnuyu istoriyu, odinakovo spravedlivuyu kak dlya amerikantsev, tak i dlya anglichan, ustraniv predvzyatost' i oshibki, imevshiesya v rannikh istochnikakh. Ruzvelt nachinaet s podrobnogo analiza prichin voyny, glavnoy iz kotorykh byla problema nishchetnogo morskogo prava, zakhvata sudov i forcible impressment — nasil'stvennogo nabora angliyskimi korablyami moryakov s amerikanskikh torgovykh sudov. Zatem privoditsya statistika sostavov flotov oboikh gosudarstv na nachalo 1812 goda, dayotsya sravnitel'nyy analiz tonnazha, vooruzheniya, razmerov ekipazhey, tsennosti razlichnykh tipov oruzhiey, takikh kak dlinnosvol'nye orudiya i karronady, a takzhe razlichiy v sisteme ischisleniya tonnazha v SShA i Velikobritanii.
Avtor analiziruet sostav komandandskogo sostava i ryadovogo sostava moryakov, otmechaya, chto khotya amerikanskie korabli imeli neznachitel'noe preimuschestvo v razmere i moshchnosti metalla, glavnoy prichinoy blestyashchikh pobed amerikanskogo flota v odinochnykh boyakh frigatov stala prezhde vsego otlichnaya podgotovka i distsiplina ekipazhey. Rassmatrivayutsya voyennye deystviya na okeane, gde molodye amerikanskie frigatnye sily, takie kak 'Konstitutsiya' (Constitution), 'Yunayted Stets' (United States) i ' Prezident' (President), oderzhali gromkie pobedy nad britanskimi korablyami 'Gerr'yer' (Guerriere), 'Makedonskiy' (Macedonian) i 'Dzhava' (Java), a takzhe deystviya shlyupov, vyzvavshie shok v angliyskom obshchestve i porazivshie Evropu. Osobennoye vnimanie uedelyaetsya opisaniyu operatsiy na ozorakh — Velikikh ozorakh i ozere Shampeyn, gde sozdavalsya flot s nulya, i gde reshalas' sud'ba suhoputnykh armiy.
Ruzvelt osveshchaet takzhe neudachnye deystviya amerikanskoy armii na sushe i grandioznuyu pobedu Endryu Dzhaksona pri Nyu-Orleane. V rabote privodyatsya podrobnye spiski istochnikov, otchyoty komandirov, sravnitel'nye tablitsy poter' i razbor trudov predshestvennikov, takikh kak Uilyam Dzheyms i Fenimor Kuper. Kniga tsenna kak ob'ektivnyy takticheskiy i strategicheskiy analiz morskoy voyny, imeyushchiy znacheniye dlya voyennykh istorikov.
