The Flag, The Poet and The Song by Irvin Molotsky

The Flag, The Poet and The Song by Irvin Molotsky:

I found this book to be extremely irritating. As far as history books go, it is a far cry from the standard. The author, contrary to most historical texts I have read, frequently interjects personal opinions on the events he desribes. For instance, early in the book, he mentions, not once, not twice, but three times in the same paragraph the fact that Francis Scott Key, the writer of the Star-Spangled Banner, owned slaves. The point being that he, the author, was critical of someone whose words espoused freedom should have been a slaveholder. Molotsky does this personal interjection more than once throughout the book. In its strictest sense, a historian should be more objective when writing.

As a historical piece, it is quite fascinating, especially since he covers areas that are not that well-known to most American citizens, including the fact that the burning of Washington during the war of 1812 was instigated by a similar act taking by the U.S. Army in Canada just a few weeks earlier.

Most of the first few chapters tell the story of the war as it lead up to the British army's failed attempt to take Baltimore and Fort McHenry, from where, as a prisoner on a British ship, Key wrote the words to the American national anthem. Later chapters detail the rise in popularity and its official recognition as the national anthem.

All in all, it is well-written and were it not for the frequent interjections of opinion, I might have given it a higher rating.

Rate this one 5½ stars.