5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Play Ball, March 13, 2002
This review is from: The Flag, the Poet and the Song: The Story of the Star-Spangled Banner (Hardcover)
What starts out as a witty account of the origins of "The Star Spangled Banner" and the text to it, continues into repetitions and ends with endless reprints of Supreme Court decisions and congressional hearings. Points go to the author for reminding us of the half-forgotten war of 1812 and for giving us a good overview. Pity he could not stop in time.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Important Part of Our History, July 13, 2001
This review is from: The Flag, the Poet and the Song: The Story of the Star-Spangled Banner (Hardcover)
Every American knows the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner," because every American watches sporting events. Some of us know the words, although we can't sing it unless we are singers of special talent, because of the reach of range of the notes (the "red glare" of the rockets makes most people's voices break). And every American who knows some history knows that Frances Scott Key, watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry from the shore of Baltimore Harbor, saw the Star-Spangled Banner flying over the fort, and wrote the poem bearing that name on the back of an envelope, and since then it has been our national anthem, sung before baseball games starting from the last century. All this history is pleasant, but it is not at all true.
Setting the record straight about our most famous flag and its anthem is the purpose of _The Flag, the Poet, & the Song: The Story of the Star-Spangled Banner_ (Dutton) by Irvin Molotsky, a fun look at an important part of American history. It is important history because of the emphasis we place on our sacred flag, and it is important to see how we often get that history wrong. It shows how in the War of 1812, the British looked invincible advancing onto Baltimore after burning Washington (which they did in retaliation for the Americans unjustifiably burning Toronto). Frances Scott Key, a lawyer, was commissioned by President Madison to negotiate freedom for a captured American, and thus was on a British ship when the bombardment of Fort McHenry took place. He did not see the huge Star-Spangled Banner under bombardment; a smaller, less valuable one was flying in the rain, but the big one was raised the next morning. He wrote his poem, "The Defence of Fort McHenry," not the title by which we know it, and someone discovered it could be sung to "Anacreon in Heaven," a jolly English drinking song. It was popular, but it was not adopted as the National Anthem until 1931, and the choice was controversial. Critics said that the music ought to be of a more modest range so everyone could sing it, and that it should not be derived from a British tune, much less a drinking song since America was under prohibition. Most objections were about the martial lyrics, which would give "to millions of children who sing it the notion that the only real patriotism is warlike activity." This and its unsingablility are objections that continue to be brought up, when "America the Beautiful" or "God Bless America" are proposed as replacements, but the anthem is secure.
Molotsky's book is largely a happy miscellany of flag and anthem lore. It spends a chapter on the proposed constitutional amendment to prevent flag burning (General Colin Powell: "I would not amend that great shield of democracy to hammer a few miscreants. The flag will still be flying proudly long after they have slunk away."). The original flag is now undergoing an $18 million restoration and preservation, in a laboratory that visitors to the Smithsonian can peer into. There are plenty of enjoyable details here, but the flag and anthem form an important facet of American history and public thought, and Molotsky has done a fine job of making the historic ideas accessible in a patriotic little volume.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Patriotic read, February 25, 2002
This review is from: The Flag, the Poet and the Song: The Story of the Star-Spangled Banner (Hardcover)
Just to preface the review: I was sitting in a restaurant reading this book when the waitress asked me what I was reading. I explained the book, and she said who was on the cover. I said it was a picture of Francis Scott Key. She said, "Oh, the man they named the Florida Keys after."
For those Americans who don't know their history, particularly the often untold truths of the War of 1812 and the contentiousness over our national anthem, this book is a perfect place to start. It's short, informational and at times very humorous. Molotsky brings the reader history and current debate on topics such as flag burning and how to preserve that wonderful flag that flew over Fort McHenry.
I learned some new things in this book, and if the response from the waitress is any indication, this country is in need of a few more history lessons. This a short read but the value cannot be underscored.
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