Star-spangled banner : the unlikely story of America's national anthem / Marc Ferris.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ferris, Marc, 1963- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

National songs--United States--History and criticism.

National songs.

Star-spangled banner (Song).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (327 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, [2014]

Summary:

" In September, 2014, Baltimore and the United States will mark the bicentennial of the event that inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner." But Francis Scott Key's poem, set to a British drinking song, has not always been our anthem, nor even especially popular. Aiming at a broad readership, Ferris examines the history of the song through the generations that followed the War of 1812, the kinds of Americans who rallied behind the song, and the successful lobbying effort that in 1933 convinced Congress to adopt the music and four stanzas as our official national anthem. Since then many citizens have called for its replacement with something less warlike; people quarrel over its apparent militarism and also difficulty level. Politically, Ferris finds, the song has an interesting and somewhat tortured story. Are we the only nation on earth with a controversial national anthem?"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Anthem before a nation, 1814-1860

American dischord, 1860-1865

Striving to reunify, 1865-1900

Duties and customs, 1880-1910

Stars and stripes forever, 1890-1920

Marching under the banner, 1898-1931

Trials and triumphs, 1931-1954

Star-spangled consensus, 1954-1963

Postmodern patriotism, 1964-2014.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-4214-1519-4