America on the Brink: How the Political Struggle Over the War of 1812 Almost Destroyed the Young RepublicThe fascinating story of how New England Federalists threatened to dissolve the Union by making a separate peace with England during the War of 1812. Many people would be surprised to learn that the struggle between Thomas Jefferson's Republican Party and Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Party defined and jeopardized the political life of the early American republic. Richard Buel Jr.'s America on the Brink looks at why the Federalists, who worked so