Shop locally online.
You can collect your orders
from Newham Bookshop.
NEW!
For news about our events, join our mailing list here.
@NewhamBookshop
The Wanstead Tap is in a railway arch
underneath London Overground.
The nearest
station is Wanstead Park.
There are a couple of hundred songs that are sung by millions across the world each day, that school children know by heart and sports fans belt out perfectly even after eight beers. And they aren’t pop songs — they are national anthems. These are songs which inspire the fiercest of feelings: for some they are a declaration of nationalistic pride; for others a rallying cry for revolution; and for others still they serve as a shameful reminder of past wrongs. And yet, despite the fact that for many of us they form a fundamental part of our national consciousness, the fascinating stories underlying the creation and adoption of each national anthem have rarely, if ever, been told.
In Republic or Death, Alex Marshall brings the incredible stories of the world’s national anthems to life. Taking in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the Americas North and South, he embarks on an adventure that includes cycling the route along which French revolutionaries marched as they first sang La Marseillaise; entering a competition for the best singer of the Star-Spangled Banner; and attempting to bribe his way to an audience with the King of Nepal in order to uncover the story behind the only national anthem written on a Casio keyboard.
In the course of his enthralling and often hilarious travels, Alex encounters everyone from senior politicians and anthem composers to the sports fans and activists from whom these songs evoke such a wide range of emotions. Along the way, he uncovers the fascinating cultural and musical history of the world’s anthems, and also asks us to consider what they mean for us today.
Alex Marshall grew up in the area where London sinks into Essex. He is an award-winning journalist who has been writing about music and politics for over a decade, and who has been published in the Guardian and by the BBC, amongst others. He started investigating national anthems back in 2008. This is his first book.
Watch videos of Michael Rosen reading from his collection of poems for adults, Don’t Mention the Children.
Details of the book.
Alex Marshall, author of Republic or Death!, recently talked about his book at The Wanstead Tap, and gave a 15-minute talk on National Pride on the BBC Radio 4 series Four Thought. Click here to listen. Click here for details of the book.
Independent bookshops were recognised by Penguin Random House for their window displays and events celebrating the publication on 14 July of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Newham Bookshop won the East of England award for its late-night event at The Wanstead Tap, where the 1962 film of To Kill a Mockingbird was screened before the books were sold just after midnight.