Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of Flags - from the author of the global bestseller Prisoners of Geography

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This was a terrific book! The author takes the reader on a world and history tour to describe the flags of the world. Marshall goes further than current nation states and discusses the flags of non-state actors such as the Red Cross, Hezbollah, the United Nations and NATO. Each color and design on every flag has some type of meaning, either real or legend. Some flags have symbols of piece, others display swords, or an AK-47. Colors on flags can represent ethnic groups, religion, or red for blood combined with white for peace. Everybody can have this white flag. It has spread into other facets of our lives. If a boxer is taking too much of a beating – why do they throw in a white towel? There's a relationshipof surrender." First on parade is America’s star-spangled Old Glory, revered at home yet often reviled abroad. Its nemesis, the Confederacy flag, explains Marshall, variously symbolised states’ rights, the Klan and the good old South. An enjoyable read, but one which was disappointing given the success of the first book in this series, ‘Prisoners of Geography’. For thousands of years flags have represented our hopes and dreams. We wave them. Burn them. March under their colors. And still, in the twenty-first century, we die for them. Flags fly at the UN, on Arab streets, 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 it’s important to understand the symbols, old and new, that people are rallying around.

Tim Marshall: ‘The Future of Geography’ - The Tab Tim Marshall: ‘The Future of Geography’ - The Tab

Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of Flags is a 2016 book on vexillology (the study of flags) by British journalist and author Tim Marshall, published by Elliott & Thompson. It was published in the United States by Simon & Schuster in 2017 as A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols.In this brisk, entertaining read, Marshall successfully answers a puzzling question: how can a simple piece of cloth come to mean so much? Marshall presents an informative survey of these highly visible symbols of national or international pride.” A fascinating tour of the world’s ensigns, their histories and meanings … a sobering lesson in just how silly we human beings can be” – Daily Mail

Worth Dying For By Tim Marshall | Used | 9781783963034 Worth Dying For By Tim Marshall | Used | 9781783963034

One of his most notable moments on Sky News involved a six-hour unbroken broadcast during the first Gulf War. He was the last journalist to interview Pakistan's Benazhir Bhutto ahead of her return from exile and subsequent assassination. Worth Dying For - The Power & Politics Of Flags [20] [21] - is a book which covers the symbolism, culture and history behind the world's flags. Published by Elliott & Thompson (2016) Keith Simpson MP's Summer Reading List - 'Tim Marshall... timely reminder of the importance of geopolitics in Prisoners of Geography...' ". Accessed 15 April 2017 After three years as IRN’s Paris correspondent and extensive work for BBC radio and TV, Tim joined Sky News. Reporting from Europe, the USA and Asia, Tim became Middle East Correspondent based in Jerusalem. 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. For thousands of years flags have represented our hopes and dreams. We wave them. Burn them. March under their colors. And still, in the twenty-first century, we die for them. Flags fly at the UN, on Arab streets, from front porches in Texas. They represent the politics of high power as well as the politics of the mob.

Table of Contents

This chapter in particular is filled with so much orientalist writing that really put the book in perspective for me. The first thing he does is make ISIS sound like the biggest evil since the medieval times (hello Nazis and the KKK?) in a highly sensationalised opening paragraph. Where did these national symbols, to which we are so attached, come from? Flags are a relatively recent phenomenon in human history. Standards and symbols painted on cloth predate flags and were used by the ancient Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Romans, but it was the invention of silk by the Chinese that allowed flags as we know them today to flourish and spread. Traditional cloth was too heavy to be held aloft, unfurled and fluttering in the wind, especially if painted; silk was much lighter and meant that banners could, for example, accompany armies onto battlefields. Marshall's book, Prisoners of Geography, [9] was released in the UK in July 2015 and in the U.S. in October 2015. [10] He continues to broadcast and comment on foreign affairs and is a regular guest on BBC, Sky News and on Monocle 24 Radio's 'Midori House'. [11] [12] Marshall with Robert Elms, BBC London 94.9, August 2014. Interview about Marshall's book Dirty Northern B*st*rds

A Flag Worth Dying For | Book by Tim Marshall | Official A Flag Worth Dying For | Book by Tim Marshall | Official

Why I chose it: I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Marshall’s examination of how geography influences world politics ( https://cannonballread.com/2018/02/ge...), so I was excited to see he has other books on somewhat similar topics. Considering what’s going on in the US with the national anthem, NFL, and protests against racial injustice, this seemed especially appropriate. The first total lunar eclipse in 2 years happened today. Here's why the moon turned red during the Super Flower Blood Moon. Aaron Retica of The New York Times gave a mixed review, finding the book to be overreaching in some of its interpretations of flags, such as the Flag of Europe or that of the Islamic State. He criticised the inclusion of the flags of Israel, Iran and Turkey in the "Colors of Arabia" chapter, but found the book to offer a "surprising fact or six along the way", such as Gilbert Baker finding inspiration for the LGBT Rainbow flag from the United States Bicentennial. [2]Nicholas Lezard (13 August 2015). "Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall - review". Evening Standard.