Traces the story of a pivotal six-week period in 1814 that marked the turnaround of the War of 1812 and enabled a nearly defeated U.S. to rally against British forces at Baltimore, in an account that also shares perspectives on such contributors as Admiral Cockburn and Francis Scott Key.

Prelude: I See Nothing Else Left -- How Do You Like the War Now? -- Laid in Ashes -- The British Invasion -- What the Devil Will They Do Here? -- Be It So, We Will Proceed -- The Enemy in Bladensburg! -- The Battle for Washington -- A Spectacle Terrible and Magnificent -- They Feel Strongly the Disgrace -- Times Truly Awful -- The Arrogant Foe -- The Mission of Francis Scott Key -- The Town Must Be Burned -- The Battle for Baltimore -- The Rockets' Red Glare -- Does That Star-Spangled Banner Yet Wave? -- Our Glorious Peace -- Epilogue.