The most recommended books on the Creek War

Who picked these books? Meet our 2 experts.

2 authors created a book list connected to the Creek War, and here are their favorite Creek War books.
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Book cover of The Creek War of 1813 and 1814 (Library Alabama Classics)

Mike Bunn Author Of Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812

From my list on understanding the Creek War of 1813 to 1814.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have spent a large part of my career researching and writing about the pivotal era in which these conflicts occurred, and continue to be intrigued by these cataclysmic events and their repercussions. Many conflicts in this nation’s history compete for the title of most unknown war, but the Creek War of 1813-1814 and the related southern campaigns of the War of 1812 have perhaps the best claim on that notoriety. Yet these conflicts nonetheless dramatically altered the United States’ history. They led to the forced removal of native tribes, ushered in the era of slave-based cotton agriculture in the Old Southwest, secured large portions of the Gulf South against European powers, and launched the career of one of America’s most influential military and political leaders. 

Mike's book list on understanding the Creek War of 1813 to 1814

Mike Bunn Why did Mike love this book?

This book was originally published in 1895 and was a model of scholarship for its period, featuring a significant amount of research, familiarity with the locations where the war raged, and informed by interviews with actual participants. Certainly, contemporary treatments are more informed on many details. But because this book reigned for decades as the essential and virtually the only book-length treatment of the subject and influenced generations of historians of the war, it is an invaluable reference source for anyone interested in the history of the Creek War.

By H.S. Halbert, T.H. Ball,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Creek War of 1813 and 1814 (Library Alabama Classics) as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This account of the Creek War of 1813 and 1814 includes introductory material and a bibliography revised to reflect the advances in scholarship since the 1969 edition. The facsmile reproduction of the 1895 original provides an account of the Indians' point of view.


Book cover of A Paradise of Blood: The Creek War of 1813-14

Mike Bunn Author Of Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812

From my list on understanding the Creek War of 1813 to 1814.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have spent a large part of my career researching and writing about the pivotal era in which these conflicts occurred, and continue to be intrigued by these cataclysmic events and their repercussions. Many conflicts in this nation’s history compete for the title of most unknown war, but the Creek War of 1813-1814 and the related southern campaigns of the War of 1812 have perhaps the best claim on that notoriety. Yet these conflicts nonetheless dramatically altered the United States’ history. They led to the forced removal of native tribes, ushered in the era of slave-based cotton agriculture in the Old Southwest, secured large portions of the Gulf South against European powers, and launched the career of one of America’s most influential military and political leaders. 

Mike's book list on understanding the Creek War of 1813 to 1814

Mike Bunn Why did Mike love this book?

Weighing in at 466 pages, Weir’s account of this transformative conflict is the most detailed yet published. He describes in-depth both the iconic events which led to the war and the course of its fighting, including the famed Creek conference at Tuckaubatchee at which Tecumseh spoke, the ensuing Creek Civil War, and the vicious fighting between Red Sticks and American forces at places like the Holy Ground, Autossee, Talladega, and finally at Horseshoe Bend—where more Native Americans died than at any other battle in American history.

By Howard T. Weir III,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Paradise of Blood as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In 1811, a portion of the Creek Indians who inhabited a vast area across Georgia, Alabama, and parts of Florida and Mississippi, interpreted an earth tremor as a sign that they had to return to their traditional way of life. What was an internal Indian dispute soon became engulfed in the greater War of 1812 to become perhaps the most consequential campaign of that conflict. At immediate stake in what became known as the Creek War of 1813-14 was whether the Creeks and their inconstant British and Spanish allies or the young United States would control millions of acres of…


Book cover of Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands: The Creek War and the Battle of New Orleans, 1812-1815

Donald R. Hickey Author Of Glorious Victory: Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans

From my list on understanding the Battle of New Orleans.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an award-winning author and professor of history at Wayne State College in Nebraska. Called “the dean of 1812 scholarship” by the New Yorker, I’ve written eleven books and more than a hundred articles, mostly on the War of 1812 and its causes. I didn’t become interested in this battle until well into my academic career, when I decided to turn the series of articles on the War of 1812 that I had written into my first book. I quickly became fascinated by the cast of characters, headed by tough-as-nails Andrew Jackson; Baratarian pirate Jean Laffite; and the British commander, Sir Edward Pakenham, who was the Duke of Wellington’s brother-in-law. No less intriguing was the magnitude of the U.S. victory and the British defeat, the profound and lasting legacy of the battle, and the many popular misconceptions about what actually happened in the battle or what might have happened had the British won.

Donald's book list on understanding the Battle of New Orleans

Donald R. Hickey Why did Donald love this book?

This traditional account of Jackson’s war against the Creeks and the British does a good job of tying together these two wars and showing how Jackson’s success in the first led seamlessly to his role in the second. A little dated but still rewarding.

By Frank Lawrence Owsley Jr.,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The books in the Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series demonstrate the University Press of Florida's long history of publishing Latin American and Caribbean studies titles that connect in and through Florida, highlighting the connections between the Sunshine State and its neighboring islands. Books in this series show how early explorers found and settled Florida and the Caribbean. They tell the tales of early pioneers, both foreign and domestic. They examine topics critical to the area such as travel, migration, economic opportunity, and tourism. They look at the growth of Florida and the Caribbean and the attendant pressures on…


Book cover of A Conquering Spirit: Fort Mims and the Redstick War of 1813-1814

Mike Bunn Author Of Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812

From my list on understanding the Creek War of 1813 to 1814.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have spent a large part of my career researching and writing about the pivotal era in which these conflicts occurred, and continue to be intrigued by these cataclysmic events and their repercussions. Many conflicts in this nation’s history compete for the title of most unknown war, but the Creek War of 1813-1814 and the related southern campaigns of the War of 1812 have perhaps the best claim on that notoriety. Yet these conflicts nonetheless dramatically altered the United States’ history. They led to the forced removal of native tribes, ushered in the era of slave-based cotton agriculture in the Old Southwest, secured large portions of the Gulf South against European powers, and launched the career of one of America’s most influential military and political leaders. 

Mike's book list on understanding the Creek War of 1813 to 1814

Mike Bunn Why did Mike love this book?

In this book, talented archaeologist and historian Gregory Waselkov finally gives the Battle of Fort Mims the thorough analysis it so long deserved. The book features the most detailed and informed account of the tragic attack which brought the brewing conflict on America’s southwestern frontier to the nation’s conscious. While its scope extends to the treatment of the larger region in which the fight occurred and the battle in historical memory, the richly informed account of the fight here is unparalleled and definitive.

By Gregory A. Waselkov,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Conquering Spirit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The August 30, 1813, massacre at Fort Mims left hundreds dead and ultimately changed the course of American history. The Indian victory shocked and horrified a young America, ushering in a period of violence surrounded by racial and social confusion. Fort Mims became a rallying cry, calling Americans to fight their assailants and avenge the dead. In ""A Conquering Spirit"", Waselkov thoroughly explicates the social climes surrounding this tumultuous moment in early American history with a comprehensive collection of illustrations, artifact photographs, and detailed accounts of every known participant in the attack on Fort Mims. These rich and extensive resources…


Book cover of Tennesseans at War, 1812-1815: Andrew Jackson, the Creek War, and the Battle of New Orleans

Mike Bunn Author Of Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812

From my list on understanding the Creek War of 1813 to 1814.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have spent a large part of my career researching and writing about the pivotal era in which these conflicts occurred, and continue to be intrigued by these cataclysmic events and their repercussions. Many conflicts in this nation’s history compete for the title of most unknown war, but the Creek War of 1813-1814 and the related southern campaigns of the War of 1812 have perhaps the best claim on that notoriety. Yet these conflicts nonetheless dramatically altered the United States’ history. They led to the forced removal of native tribes, ushered in the era of slave-based cotton agriculture in the Old Southwest, secured large portions of the Gulf South against European powers, and launched the career of one of America’s most influential military and political leaders. 

Mike's book list on understanding the Creek War of 1813 to 1814

Mike Bunn Why did Mike love this book?

In this book longtime Tennessee archivist Tom Kanon presents the most detailed analysis of the Volunteer State’s role in the Creek War and the War of 1812. That role is disproportionately large, considering that it raised the majority of the troops involved in the former and supplied the pivotal American leadership which played significant roles in winning both in the form of Andrew Jackson. The book is not exclusively focused on Tennesseans despite the title, and does a commendable job of telling the story of the war and the Battle at New Orleans in their entirety.

By Tom Kanon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tennesseans at War, 1812-1815 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Tennesseans at War, 1812-1815 by Tom Kanon tells the often forgotten story of the central role citizens and soldiers from Tennessee played in the Creek War in Alabama and War of 1812.Tennesseans at War, 1812-1815 by Tom Kanon tells the often forgotten story of the central role citizens and soldiers from Tennessee played in the Creek War in Alabama and War of 1812.

Although frequently discussed as separate military conflicts, the War of 1812 against Great Britain and the Creek War against Native Americans in the territory that would become Alabama were part of the same forceful projection of growing…


Book cover of A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the Creek Indians, and the Epic War for the American South

Fergus M. Bordewich Author Of Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction

From Fergus' 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Historian World traveler Cat lover

Fergus' 3 favorite reads in 2023

Fergus M. Bordewich Why did Fergus love this book?

This book was full of surprises for me.

Cozzens took me on a wild ride through the chaotic violence of one of the country’s most significant but least well-known Indian wars, which led to the destruction of a once-powerful native confederacy and the expulsion of the Creeks from their lands in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Cozzens is a fair-minded historian who does not play favorites.

It’s impossible to read this book without coming to a fuller understanding of the raw violence that characterized the southern frontier or for the insurmountable challenges for native people who sought to find an accommodation with the oncoming tide of American settlement.

By Peter Cozzens,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Brutal Reckoning as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Cozzens is a master storyteller' The Times

From the devastating invasion by Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century to the relentless pressure from white settlers 150 years later, A Brutal Reckoning tells the story of encroachment on the vast Native American territory in the Deep South, which gave rise to the Creek War, the bloodiest in American Indian history, and propelled Andrew Jackson into national prominence, as he led the US Army in a ruthless campaign.

It was a war that involved not only white Americans and Native Americans but also the British and the Spanish, and ultimately led to…


Book cover of The Creek War of 1813 and 1814 (Library Alabama Classics)
Book cover of A Paradise of Blood: The Creek War of 1813-14
Book cover of Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands: The Creek War and the Battle of New Orleans, 1812-1815

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