Sir William Gore Ouseley was a nineteenth century diplomat and author. Early in his career he served as attaché to the British embassy in Washington, DC. While there, he made observations on the governance of the United States, which he published in 1832 to counter ‘conflicting and contradictory’ reports of the country in Britain. Ouseley observed that in spite of an increased interest in America by Europeans following the conclusion of the War of 1812 (1812–14), the country remained little known to the general public or prospective traveller. Ouseley’s account, published in London, with an American edition printed at Philadelphia under the auspices of Washington Irving (1783–1859), gave a very positive review of the American system of government and its institutions.