Ships of Oak, Guns of Iron

The War of 1812 and the Forging of the American Navy

By: Ronald Utt

Narrated by: Stephen W. Davis

The War of 1812 is typically noted for a handful of events: the burning of the White House, the rise of the Star Spangled Banner, and the battle of New Orleans. But in fact the greatest consequence of that distant conflict was the birth of the U.S. Navy. During the War of 1812, America's tiny fleet took on the mightiest naval power on earth, besting the British in a string of victories that stunned both nations.

In his new audiobook Ships of Oak and Guns of Iron: The War of 1812 and the Birth of the American Navy, author Dr. Ronald Utt not only sheds new light on the naval battles of the War of 1812 and how they gave birth to our nation's great navy, but tells the story of the War of 1812 through the portraits of famous American war heroes. From the cunning Stephen Decatur to the fierce David Porter, Ships of Oak and Guns of Iron relates how thousands of American men and boys gave better than they got against the British Navy. The great age of fighting sail is as rich in heroic drama as any epoch.

Dr. Utt's Ships of Oak and Guns of Iron retrieves the American chapter of that epoch from unjustified obscurity, and offers listeners an intriguing chronicle of the War of 1812 as well as a unique perspective on the birth of the U.S. Navy.

©2012 Ronald D. Utt (P)2014 Ronald D. Utt

A now better understood War

Very thorough, many facts and people included who were all heros and or victims of a war in our developing country.

Ships of Oak

Should be MEN of iron. I would never had made it back then. lol

Great listen

Books on the Navy's role in the War of 1812 are rarely as good as this one!

Outstanding book

One of the best written and informative books I've come across about the War of 1812. Written in a captivating and steadily interesting way, and the narrator did an exceptional job as well, slight mispronouncing aside. Overall it's easily fallen in as one of my favorites.

Good book BUT mediocre audible file and production

The uploaded audio file sometimes has skips where text is left out and details are jacked up and missed for the listener. Audible needs to put an update to the current file to clear these inconsistencies. Plus, the narrator's pronunciation of common English and French persons, places, things etc. is quite atrocious (e.g., "Cockburn" is "Co'burn," Laffite is "luh feet," not "laugh it," "Chatham" is "Chatum," not "Chat Ham")...I know, I know...it's a small complaint but nevertheless it is annoying to me because the guy sounds very uneducated for an audiobook that was purchased for my edification. If you want a better narrated audiobook on the War of 1812, "Through the Perilous Fight" by Steve Vogel has a better delivery in my opinion. Regardless, I enjoyed this audiobook as a good overview of an often overlooked British/American conflict of the early 19th century. *Cheers*