Tim Marshall is a leading authority on foreign affairs with more than 30 years of reporting experience. He was diplomatic editor at Sky News, and before that was working for the BBC and LBC/IRN radio. He has reported from 40 countries and covered conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Israel. He is the author of the Sunday Times bestsellers Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps that Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics and Divided: Why We're Living in an Age of Walls; Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of Flags; and Shadowplay: Behind the Lines and Under Fire. He is founder and editor of the current affairs site TheWhatandtheWhy.com.
"Bristling with historical trivia and commentary on current events,
this entertaining survey of vexillology, the study of flags,
examines the banners of more than eighty-five nations, as well as
those of the Islamic State, the L.G.B.T.Q. community, and pirates."
--The New Yorker
"[Marshall] writes with the cool drollery that characterized the
work of Christopher Hitchens or Simon Winchester. He tackles a
topic that many people take seriously without taking himself
seriously, and the result is a book that explains where many of the
flags that capture the world's imagination come from and why."
--USA Today
"Marshall oscillates between telling the story of the way flags
unite us and the way they divide us. He is acutely aware that they
often do both at the same time, and it is this tension that brings
out his most illuminating writing." --New York Times Book
Review
"An entertaining whistle-stop tour of world flags " --Library
Journal
"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 (UK)
"A must read for anyone wishing to grasp the meanings behind
today's international affairs."
--Human Security Centre (UK)
"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."
--Publishers Weekly
"Insightful and entertaining ... a truly fascinating book that
feels all the more considered and urgent in today's world of
Brexit, Trump, China and ISIS."
--Wanderlust magazine (UK)
"Marshall has drawn on 25 years as a reporter in 40 countries to
produce an engagingly written, veritable page-turner. Whether the
topic is ethnic identity, Japanese imperialism, Panamanian shipping
law or the defeat of Nazism, flags speak volumes about our human
condition."
--The Jewish Chronicle
"Marshall points out that we often forget the aggressive symbolism
of established flags ... [they] are a quick, visual way of
communicating loyalties, power and ideas."
--The Times (UK)
"Country by country the author considers the great diversity of the
world's flags, serving up with offhand affection a lively text full
of interesting anecdotes and telling details. A treasure vault for
vexillologists, full of meaning beyond the hue and thread of the
world's banners."
--Kirkus Reviews
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