14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Crisp Salute, August 29, 2005
Flag: An American Biography (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005)
In his latest work of popular historiography, Marc Leepson - author of Saving Monticello - takes on the daunting challenges of writing a concise, comprehensive and objective "biography" of the flag of the Untied States of America. His special attention is directed to the symbolic value which the flag has held for Americans since it was first authorized by Congress on 14 June 1777.
In terms of concision, comprehensiveness and objectivity, Mr. Leepson has done remarkably well and has produced a readable, entertaining volume which contains within its 266 pages a small ocean of educational information about the American flag. With a view specifically towards objectivity, the author does not air-brush from his narrative incidents which show lovers of the American flag in a less than favorable light. The hanging of William Mumford (1862) or of Paul Prager (1918) for flag desecration would not have made it into a less well-balanced book.
Mr. Leepson, a Vietnam War veteran, also exhibits considerable empathy with the anti-war movement of those days, going so far as to include a John Prine lyric as one of the book's two epigraphs: "Your flag decal won't get you into heaven anymore". He is aware, too, of the jingoism and commercialism - crass or otherwise - which have frequently attended the American flag and duly records their place in the "life" of the flag. Flag, it might be noted, is, in its own quiet way, another all-American commercial product, exploiting the enduringly popular, quintessential symbol of the USA.
Mr. Leepson is aware that he is an American writing for Americans about an American icon, but he maintains, for the most part, a third-person approach to his material. He is a journalist and an historian, a recorder of fact and a debunker of myth - not a cheerleader. He writes, almost always, about "the flag" not "our flag". He is conscious that his book might, perhaps, be read by non-Americans. The pride of place, however, the first of the book's two epigraphs, belongs to Harriet Ward Beecher. Its highly charged rhetoric, from 1861, is the one that resonates more strongly with the author: "our flag carries American ideas, American history and American feelings. It is not a painted rag. It is a whole national history. It is the Constitution. It is the Government. It is the emblem of the sovereignty of the people. It is the NATION."
Mr. Leepson's hope in writing this book was, he says, "to throw an informing light on what has become an object of veneration for so many Americans and the very visible symbol of this amazing nation". He diligently records the various changes made to the actual flag over the years to accommodate the accession of new states into the union. He also diligently records the changing meanings attached to the flag over the years. One detects, however, an understated sense of awe beneath the entire narrative.
Mr. Leepson has chosen for the end-papers of his book an 18-point diagram which illustrates how to fold the flag into a triangle, as is done at U.S. military funerals today. This diagram is an analogue to the 18 chapters into which Mr. Leepson has folded the story of the flag's "life" to date. The diagram is also a testament to his sense of propriety and reverence. One imagines that he has attended a number of U.S. military funerals and seen "Old Glory" folded, tight as swallowed tears.
His excellent, compact volume of U.S. vexillogical lore strongly suggests that for Mr. Leepson, the "Stars and Stripes", the "Star-Spangled Banner" is, primarily, the Battle Flag of the Republic. His book's one word title is sharp as a surname at roll-call or a summons to attention. The book itself is a crisp salute to that demanding national emblem.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I was captivated and fascinated by this book, July 30, 2005
I picked this book up because I was curious about how the author would handle the history of the flag. I was happily surprised that he did so objectively, even when dealing with the most politically charged issues such as flag desecration laws. Plus, the book was readable and told many fascinating stories--and ones I hadn't known.
I now know why, for example, Francis Scott Key was in Baltimore harbor during the British bombardment of Ft. McHenry. I know that Francis Hopkinson likely designed the American flag. I know that Betsy Ross more than likely did not make the first one. I know the origins and the strange history of the Pledge of Allegiance. Plus a whole lot more.
I'd highly recommend this to anyone interested in our nation's history and in the history of the Stars and Stripes.
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