Border Crossings: The Detroit River Region in the War of 1812 (review)

116 The Michigan Historical Review century. The author does rely on extensive quotations from primary sources, often without much contextualization, resulting in blocks of text that are difficult to navigate, requiring readers to make their own connections. Adler both begins and concludes the book by addressing current outbreaks of cholera. Physicians today know what causes cholera, yet the disease still persists, primarily in developing, poorer nations or in the wake of natural disasters. Fortunately, the cause and treatment for cholera is now known. Unlike the nineteenth-century citizens of Detroit, those afflicted with the disease who can afford to seek treatment, should it be available in their region of the world, will have a greater chance of survival than the cholera victims in Adler’s book. Serenity Sutherland University of Rochester, Rochester NY Denver Brunsman, Joel Stone, and Douglas D. Fisher, eds. Border Crossings: The Detroit River Region in the War of 1812. Detroit: Detroit Historical Society, 2012. Pp. 302. Bibliography. Illustrations. References. Paper, $12.95. Former Wayne State University Professor Denver Brunsman brings together the essays of 21 of his graduate and undergraduate students in this collection revolving around the important role that the Detroit region played in the War of 1812. Instead of providing detailed accounts of military action or political maneuvering, these short papers emphasize the impact of the conflict upon individuals, families, and communities on both sides of the international border. Grouped into three sections— Frontiers, War, and Legacies—each author seeks to show how the war transformed the transnational ties that characterized the region before 1812. Perhaps the most poignant essays deal with individual or family experiences. For example, the Askins family lived on the British side, but a Detroit son-in-law fought for the United States. The encounters of Elizabeth Naggs Anderson of Frenchtown and Nancy Hubbard of Grosse Pointe with Native Americans caused the latter to write in dismay, “When [Gen. William] Hull surrendered the Fort to the British, we were left to the Indians” (p. 152). Most interesting were Canadian Andrew Westbrook, whose animosities against influential rivals caused him to switch sides, and Lydia Bacon, the wife of a US Army officer Book Reviews 117 who followed her husband into the wilderness and found herself captured twice. Another essay claims that the favorable post-war image of Tecumseh “became a magnet for folktales and folkways” that magnified his reputation far more than his achievements deserved (p. 220). Other interesting essays deal with the rebuilding of Detroit after the fire of 1805, the role of taverns in political and social life of the village, African Americans’ and African Canadians’ use of the border to achieve freedom and their fighting for both sides at the Battle of Lake Erie, Detroit’s celebration of peace in 1815, and the importance of the 1817 Rush-Bagot Agreement in demilitarizing the lakes. The final essay recounts how William Darby’s 1819 geographic survey of Michigan sought to revise the unfavorable image of the territory to possible emigrants and investors. There’s a lot truth in Joshua Zimberg’s conclusion that “Like a cold breeze across the waters of the Detroit River, the American occupation of Amherstburg spread an icy chill in the region that did not easily thaw” (p. 202). Needless to say, this book covers a lot of territory, often too briefly. Some of it has been discussed previously in greater detail. Many essays fail to see subjects in the wider context of the time, and there are minor errors of fact or emphasis that misinform the reader. Nonetheless, Border Crossings provides an interesting and effective introduction to a complex and controversial period of Michigan and Ontario history. David Curtis Skaggs Professor Emeritus, Bowling Green State University Vincent Curcio. Henry Ford. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Pp. 306. Index. Cloth, $24.95. What more is left to be written about Henry Ford? Given the hundreds if not thousands of books written on one of the most famous and influential Americans in history, every biographer who tackles the enigmatic and contradictory Ford deals with this question. Does a fresh biographical look offer new sources? Is it a dramatic new interpretation? Does a new book on...