From the inside cover:

"The story of Fort McHenry's defense during the War of 1812 is well known, but Lion in the Bay takes an intimate and thorough look at the events preceding the battle that inspired the U.S. national anthem. As the War of 1812 raged on the high sea and along the Canadian border, the British decided to strike at the relatively undefended area of the Chesapeake Bay. Taking the bay may have been a tactical decision at first, but Admiral George Cockburn's operation quickly became a campaign of retribution for the 1812 burning of York (present-day Toronto) by the Americans. As a result, the Chesapeake Bay area, once an economic engine for America, was transformed into a region of terrified citizens and destroyed farms.

In August 1814 President James Madison refused to bolster the defenses on the waterway that led to Washington, and Cockburn again led a naval force into the bay. After defeating Commodore Joshua Barney and his Chesapeake Bay Flotilla, the British sailed up the Patuxent River and landed at Benedict, Maryland, where more than four thousand troops disembarked and advanced toward Washington, D.C.

After a victory at the Battle of Bladensburg, the British burned Washington to the ground and set sail for Baltimore. Despite a massive bombardment at Fort McHenry, Baltimore's defenses held, forcing the British to abandon their campaign to close the Chesapeake. Lion in the Bay retells this story of the American resilience and triumphs in the wake of catastrophe with amazing detail and great skill."

• Publisher : Naval Institute Press; First Edition first Printing (October 15, 2015)
• Language : English
• Hardcover : 280 pages
• ISBN-10 : 1612512364
• ISBN-13 : 978-1612512365
• Item Weight : 1.26 pounds
• Dimensions : 6.5 x 1 x 9.75 inches