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The thirteen-stripe, fifty-star American flag is as familiar an icon as any that has existed in the nation’s history. It stirs something in the hearts of Americans like no other symbol. Yet the history of the flag, especially its origins, is cloaked in myth and misinformation. Flag: An American Biography rectifies that situation by presenting a lively, comprehensive, illuminating look at the history of the American flag from its beginnings to the 21st century.
The book contains scores of little-known, fascinating facts as it traces the evolution of the American flag from the Colonial period to its prominent role as a symbol of American resolve in today’s war against terrorism.
Flag sifts through the historical evidence to---among many other things---uncover the truth behind the Betsy Ross myth and discover the true designer of the Stars and Stripes. The book also shines informing light on a string of colorful and influential Americans who shaped the history of the American flag.
They include Mary Pickersgill, who sewed The Star-spangled Banner; Francis Scott Key, the Washington, D.C. lawyer, who wrote the words that would become our National Anthem; U.S. Navy Capt. Samuel Driver, who conined the phrase “Old Glory;” Union Army Col. Elmer Ellsworth; the first officer killed in the Civil War, who died defending the flag; Union Army Sgt. William Carney, the first African-American Medal of Honor recipient, who carried the flag and led troops through a bloody Civil War battle; Wisconsin schoolteacher B.J. Cigrand, the creator of Flag Day; Francis Bellamy, the father of the Pledge of Allegiance; and Joe Rosenthal, the AP photographer who took the most reproduced image of the 20th century, the raising the American flag at Iwo Jima.
“Flag,” as the novelist Nelson DeMille wrote in his book’s Preface, “is not a book with an agenda or a subjective point of view. It is an objective history of the American flag, well researched, well presented, easy to read and understand, and very informative and entertaining.”