Book Review: Under Two Flags by Major Jason R. Swain
Book Review: Under Two Flags by Major Jason R. Swain
29 November 2022
Major Jason R. Swain, Northeast Kentucky Corps Officer in the US Southern Territory, explores the creation and cultivation of The Salvation Army in the country from 1870 to 1913.
Under Two Flags by Major Jason R. Swain is presented in a high-quality manner, with an eye-catching cover, layout and series of historical images in the book’s centre. In short, it is a good introduction to the commencement and formation of The Salvation Army in the United States.
This book amalgamates previous research on this period into a short, easy-to-read publication and does not shy away from the numerous rebellions and schisms in Army history. The author is a Salvation Army officer from the US. He engages in historical re-enactments and was in the editorial department of the Army’s headquarters at the time of writing. Jason’s love of history and writing is clearly seen in this book.
While the book should be praised for keeping the entire commencement narrative in the mind of readers by including all three commencements of the Army in the USA, it failed to unpack or give meaning to the contestation in Army folklore about what is ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’.
There were also some errors and repeated incorrect historical assumptions. For example, despite the author’s claim, the Booths did read novels! It also carried a weakness similar to other Army history books in that it heavily relied on Army sources and failed to do original research.
For these reasons, Under Two Flags is a good introduction to the turbulent commencing years of The Salvation Army in the US. It would interest people drawn to organisational, Salvation Army or American history. Under Two Flags is available as a paperback from Christianbook.com and satradecentral.org