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Summary
Summary
When you see your nations flag fluttering in the breeze, what do you feel? For thousands of years flags have represented our hopes and dreams. We wave them. Burn them. March under their colours. And still, in the 21st century, we die for them. Flags fly at the UN, on the Arab street, from front porches in Texas. They represent the politics of high power as well as the politics of the mob. From the renewed sense of nationalism in China, to troubled identities in Europe and the USA, to the terrifying rise of Islamic State, the world is a confusing place right now and we need to understand the symbols, old and new, that people are rallying round. In nine chapters (covering the USA, UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America, international flags and flags of terror), Tim Marshall draws on more than twenty-five years of global reporting experience to reveal the histories, the power and the politics of the symbols that unite us - and divide us.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this brisk, entertaining read, Marshall (Prisoners of Geography) successfully answers a puzzling question: how can a simple piece of cloth come to mean so much? Whether the flag flies the Stars and Stripes, the five rings of the Olympics, or the Jolly Roger, Marshall explores its origins and political significance. He attributes the importance of flags partially to the discovery of silk, which allowed them to flutter, not hang. But the meaning of a flag is in the eye of the beholder. The U.S. flag means liberty to American citizens, but oppression to the country's detractors. Marshall pays particular attention to the significance of colors, which transcend borders: red for blood or struggle, white for peace and harmony, blue for the oceans, yellow for gold or wealth. In the Middle East, green stands for Islam. Flags can denote ideology, as in France and China. Modern hate groups appropriate symbols such as the Nazi swastika and the Confederacy's Stars and Bars to make their extreme positions visible. Flags in the developing world, or for transnational organizations such as the UN and NATO, are often aspirational, expressing pride or hope for unification. Marshall presents an informative survey of these highly visible symbols of national or international pride. Agent: George Lucas, InkWell Management. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
Journalist Marshall (Prisoners of Geography) has written an entertaining whistle-stop tour of world flags. This book is roughly divided by geography and flag symbol: flags featuring crosses, flags of the Middle East, and so forth. There is, of course, an argument to be had with Marshall's choice of geographic divisions, but it makes as much sense as any other arrangement. Marshall has done (some of) his homework and relays a few interesting heraldic details about the construction of flags as visual symbols. However, students of diplomacy or nationalism will find little new here. Marshall's choice of groups, as mentioned above, is problematic, and his text does not even approach the analytical. He excels at the personal and anecdotal, and the strongest sections relate his own encounters with various flags and individuals connected with them. VERDICT A quick read best suited for general audiences. Those in search of a more scholarly treatment should look elsewhere.-Hanna Clutterbuck-Cook, Harvard Univ. Lib., Cambridge, MA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.