HISTORY: ALAN TAYLOR, “The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832” (W.W. Norton) At the heart of Mr. Taylor’s book is the War of 1812, when thousands of slaves sought liberty by escaping to the British side, in what Mr. Taylor, a professor at the University of Virginia, calls “incredible acts of resourcefulness and courage.” Mr. Taylor, 58, drew on records of a commission to compensate slave owners for their lost property. “It was a great opportunity to be able to tell a story about the nature of slavery and freedom in the early years of the ...