Volume 6 of The Papers of James Monroe continues to expand its detailed view of the life and career of James Monroe, a key founding father of the United States and its modern republic. By examining more than 500 primary source materials from April 1811 to March 1814, during which Monroe served as secretary of state and briefly as interim secretary of war under President James Madison, readers gain invaluable insight into the history of the United States during his lifetime.

The Papers of James Monroe: Selected Correspondence and Papers, April 1811-March 1814 is the sixth volume in an ongoing series that illuminates a critical period in American history and provides access to the massive and widely scattered Monroe Papers, enabling scholars to revisit Monroe's role in the birth and infancy of the United States. The volume includes more than 500 documents, mainly correspondence to and from James Monroe and other important documents written by him.

This ongoing series of primary documents offers the most comprehensive account and documentation of Monroe's life, the study of which enables deep insights into the formative events of the American republic. These historical primary documents are accompanied by annotations that help readers to better understand the context of Monroe's thoughts, opinions, and actions. The documents included in this volume date from Monroe's appointment in April 1811 as secretary of state under President James Madison to the midpoint of Monroe's term in that office in March 1814.

Daniel Preston, PhD, is editor of the Papers of James Monroe project at the University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA.