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Seventh Flag
The US and Europe have unraveled since World War II and radicalism has metastasized into every community, tearing away the decency, optimism, and security that shaped those robust democracies for more than eight decades. No place is immune, including the small West Texas town of Dell City, where four generations of an iconic American family and a Syrian Muslim family carve a farming empire out of the unforgiving high desert.
These families’ partnership is as unlikely as the idea of a United States, and their powerful friendship can be traced back to a bloody knife fight in a Juarez cantina just after World War II. The bond forged that night between Jack Laws, an Irish American who staked his claim in West Texas after the war, and Ali Zarkan, whose great-grandfather sailed from the Middle East to Texas in the mid-1800s as part of President Franklin Pierce’s attempt to create the US Army Camel Corps, shapes each generation of the families as they come of age and adapt to shifting paradigms of gender, commerce, patriotism, loyalty, religion, and sexuality. From the beaches of the Western Pacific to the battlefields of the Middle East and from the lawless streets of Juarez to the darkest corners of the Internet, the two families fight real and perceived enemies—journeying, as they do, through the football fields of Texas and West Point, the hippie playgrounds of Asia, the music halls of Austin, the terrorist cells of Europe and the political backrooms where fortunes are gained or lost over the rights to Western water. Underlying their experiences is the basic question of what constitutes identity and citizenship in America, or in Texas, a land over which six flags have flown. The seventh flag, ultimately, is not one of a state or a nation, but of a mosaic of cultures, religions, and people from every corner of the world—all struggling to define what it means to be unified under an ambiguous banner.
These families’ partnership is as unlikely as the idea of a United States, and their powerful friendship can be traced back to a bloody knife fight in a Juarez cantina just after World War II. The bond forged that night between Jack Laws, an Irish American who staked his claim in West Texas after the war, and Ali Zarkan, whose great-grandfather sailed from the Middle East to Texas in the mid-1800s as part of President Franklin Pierce’s attempt to create the US Army Camel Corps, shapes each generation of the families as they come of age and adapt to shifting paradigms of gender, commerce, patriotism, loyalty, religion, and sexuality. From the beaches of the Western Pacific to the battlefields of the Middle East and from the lawless streets of Juarez to the darkest corners of the Internet, the two families fight real and perceived enemies—journeying, as they do, through the football fields of Texas and West Point, the hippie playgrounds of Asia, the music halls of Austin, the terrorist cells of Europe and the political backrooms where fortunes are gained or lost over the rights to Western water. Underlying their experiences is the basic question of what constitutes identity and citizenship in America, or in Texas, a land over which six flags have flown. The seventh flag, ultimately, is not one of a state or a nation, but of a mosaic of cultures, religions, and people from every corner of the world—all struggling to define what it means to be unified under an ambiguous banner.
- GenresNovelsFictionHistorical
249 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 8, 2019
8 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Sid Balman
4 books8 followersA Pulitzer-nominated national security
correspondent, Sid Balman Jr. has covered
wars in the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia-
Herzegovina, and Kosovo, and has traveled
extensively with two American presidents and
four secretaries of state on overseas diplomatic
missions. With the emergence of the web and
the commoditizing of content, Balman moved
into the business side of communications. In
that role, over two decades, he helped found a
news syndicate focused on the interests of
women and girls, served as communications
chief for the largest consortium of U.S.
international development organizations, led
two successful progressive campaigning
companies, and launched a new division at a
large international development firm centered
on violent radicalism and other security issues on behalf of governments and nonprofits. A fourth-generation Texan, as well as a climber, surfer, paddler, and benefactor to Smith College, Balman lives in Washington DC with his wife, three kids, and two dogs.
correspondent, Sid Balman Jr. has covered
wars in the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia-
Herzegovina, and Kosovo, and has traveled
extensively with two American presidents and
four secretaries of state on overseas diplomatic
missions. With the emergence of the web and
the commoditizing of content, Balman moved
into the business side of communications. In
that role, over two decades, he helped found a
news syndicate focused on the interests of
women and girls, served as communications
chief for the largest consortium of U.S.
international development organizations, led
two successful progressive campaigning
companies, and launched a new division at a
large international development firm centered
on violent radicalism and other security issues on behalf of governments and nonprofits. A fourth-generation Texan, as well as a climber, surfer, paddler, and benefactor to Smith College, Balman lives in Washington DC with his wife, three kids, and two dogs.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 26, 2019
Reviewed For Readers' Favorite by Grant Leishman
Seventh Flag: A Novel by Sid Balman Jr. tells us of the intertwining stories of two very different families on the prairies of West Texas. The author traces the journeys of three generations of a Syrian and American family to the small town of Dell City in West Texas. In the aftermath of 9/11 and the “war on terrorism” we see how the radicalization of both Muslims and Christians has led to a rupturing of American society and the splintering of long-term relationships and friendships, all across the country. The history of Zarkan family can be traced right back to the 1850’s when Ali Zarkan’s grandfather first arrived in America as part of a doomed experiment to introduce camels to the United States cavalry. When Jack Laws, an Irish/American immigrant decided he needed to stake a place for himself after World War II, he chose the remote area of West Texas, to farm. The Zarkan and Laws’ family bond was cemented following a bloody knife fight in a Mexican bar just across the border from Dell City. What follows is a tale of love, friendship, brotherhood and betrayal as these two immigrant families try to withstand the bigotry, religious intolerance and hatred that sweeps across America at the start of the new millennium. Their mutual love for football, their country, their Lone-Star State, and ultimately each other, will have to survive some extreme tests.
Seventh Flag: A Novel carries a deep message of tolerance and love in a world that is severely wounded by its very antithesis. However, Author Sid Balman Jr. pulls no punches in describing the turmoil that exists in both of the two families as they try to balance their love for each other against the rising tide of hatred against Muslims and indeed, immigrants of any colour. This story is a reminder that ultimately all Americans are either immigrants themselves or descended from immigrants. Despite the powerful, overarching moral concepts of the novel, the author has managed to deliver an exciting, action-packed story of courage, selflessness and duty, that impresses. The writing style is extremely readable and this is one of those books that I had trouble putting down, always wanting to know what would happen next. The core of the book, revolves around the relationships of the children and grandchildren of Ali Zarkan and Jack Laws. The characters were strong and believable, especially with the pressures being put on them from all quarters. I particularly appreciated that the author chose to show the dangers of both sides of extremism, within both families. To me, what made this book stand out was core belief that “we are all Americans”, together in this battle against extremism, racial bigotry and hate, in whatever form it may take. I put this book down, at the end, with a feeling of satisfaction and completion and that’s possibly the highest compliment I can pay the author. I highly recommend this read.
Seventh Flag: A Novel by Sid Balman Jr. tells us of the intertwining stories of two very different families on the prairies of West Texas. The author traces the journeys of three generations of a Syrian and American family to the small town of Dell City in West Texas. In the aftermath of 9/11 and the “war on terrorism” we see how the radicalization of both Muslims and Christians has led to a rupturing of American society and the splintering of long-term relationships and friendships, all across the country. The history of Zarkan family can be traced right back to the 1850’s when Ali Zarkan’s grandfather first arrived in America as part of a doomed experiment to introduce camels to the United States cavalry. When Jack Laws, an Irish/American immigrant decided he needed to stake a place for himself after World War II, he chose the remote area of West Texas, to farm. The Zarkan and Laws’ family bond was cemented following a bloody knife fight in a Mexican bar just across the border from Dell City. What follows is a tale of love, friendship, brotherhood and betrayal as these two immigrant families try to withstand the bigotry, religious intolerance and hatred that sweeps across America at the start of the new millennium. Their mutual love for football, their country, their Lone-Star State, and ultimately each other, will have to survive some extreme tests.
Seventh Flag: A Novel carries a deep message of tolerance and love in a world that is severely wounded by its very antithesis. However, Author Sid Balman Jr. pulls no punches in describing the turmoil that exists in both of the two families as they try to balance their love for each other against the rising tide of hatred against Muslims and indeed, immigrants of any colour. This story is a reminder that ultimately all Americans are either immigrants themselves or descended from immigrants. Despite the powerful, overarching moral concepts of the novel, the author has managed to deliver an exciting, action-packed story of courage, selflessness and duty, that impresses. The writing style is extremely readable and this is one of those books that I had trouble putting down, always wanting to know what would happen next. The core of the book, revolves around the relationships of the children and grandchildren of Ali Zarkan and Jack Laws. The characters were strong and believable, especially with the pressures being put on them from all quarters. I particularly appreciated that the author chose to show the dangers of both sides of extremism, within both families. To me, what made this book stand out was core belief that “we are all Americans”, together in this battle against extremism, racial bigotry and hate, in whatever form it may take. I put this book down, at the end, with a feeling of satisfaction and completion and that’s possibly the highest compliment I can pay the author. I highly recommend this read.
March 27, 2019
Fiction isn’t “true,” but it springs from human experience, like water witched with a stick. Balman knows his subjects. This is a timely read — refreshing as an ice cold Dos Equis and Juarez Tequila chaser at Bonnie’s Sheep Herder Bar, in that corner of West Texas known as Dell City.
November 9, 2019
The Seventh Flag by Sid Balman Jr is one of those books about family dynamics that catches you right from the beginning. It took me a little longer to read than normal, not because it was boring, but because I really wanted to digest the story instead of skimming over the words.
What is the seventh flag?
"The seventh flag, ultimately, is not one of a state or a nation, but of a mosaic of cultures, religions, and people from every corner of the world--all struggling to define what it means to be unified under an ambiguous banner."
This book is a work of fiction but seems like a biographical take on two families the Laws and the Zarkans, one Texan American and the other a Texan Muslim family that would seem like an unlikely friendship but it was. It started after WWII to the present. A huge cast of characters on both sides of the family that takes the reader into the taboos of one culture and the proudness of another.
A lot of topics are covered, the Texas Water Wars, the U.S.Army Camel Corps, the evolution of division and radicalization with one family member becoming a leader in ISIS.
What the reader should come away with is the diversity that makes America and that we don't have to fight, we can get along if we chose to. It starts with each and every one of us. I think that everyone should read this book. At times a love story, but also a learning experience. I learned a lot about Texas and ISIS and recruitment and the people that are targeted for entry into this terrorist organization. An epic family novel! Reminds me of books that I read back in the '80s/90s, the huge books that were all about families. This one is not huge and it doesn't need to be to be a great story
A great story and I highly recommend it!
What is the seventh flag?
"The seventh flag, ultimately, is not one of a state or a nation, but of a mosaic of cultures, religions, and people from every corner of the world--all struggling to define what it means to be unified under an ambiguous banner."
This book is a work of fiction but seems like a biographical take on two families the Laws and the Zarkans, one Texan American and the other a Texan Muslim family that would seem like an unlikely friendship but it was. It started after WWII to the present. A huge cast of characters on both sides of the family that takes the reader into the taboos of one culture and the proudness of another.
A lot of topics are covered, the Texas Water Wars, the U.S.Army Camel Corps, the evolution of division and radicalization with one family member becoming a leader in ISIS.
What the reader should come away with is the diversity that makes America and that we don't have to fight, we can get along if we chose to. It starts with each and every one of us. I think that everyone should read this book. At times a love story, but also a learning experience. I learned a lot about Texas and ISIS and recruitment and the people that are targeted for entry into this terrorist organization. An epic family novel! Reminds me of books that I read back in the '80s/90s, the huge books that were all about families. This one is not huge and it doesn't need to be to be a great story
A great story and I highly recommend it!
October 10, 2019
This book is a biting social commentary and a short course in the evolution of global politics in the last century posing as a quick, fun summer beach novel with lots of details about FOOTBALL as an added perk. Journalistic, current, original, fast paced, packed with juicy (and bloody) detail and most importantly ceaselessly engaging - Balman's style reminds me of my very favorite author, Tom Wolfe. I cannot give a higher compliment.
The writing is easy whether he is artfully describing a fight scene in Juarez that happens so fast you get knocked off your stool at home, or schooling the reader in the chapters that punctuate the book with wonky snippets of policy and history. CSPAN meets Quinton Tarentino! The consequences of violence as a means for revenge is the repeating theme throughout the book as it follows generation after generation. It’s all good fun until someone’s body part gets blown off, but, I believe that's the point.
A+ & Fresh
The writing is easy whether he is artfully describing a fight scene in Juarez that happens so fast you get knocked off your stool at home, or schooling the reader in the chapters that punctuate the book with wonky snippets of policy and history. CSPAN meets Quinton Tarentino! The consequences of violence as a means for revenge is the repeating theme throughout the book as it follows generation after generation. It’s all good fun until someone’s body part gets blown off, but, I believe that's the point.
A+ & Fresh
March 26, 2019
Camel jockeys and their camels imported from Syria to supplement the U.S. cavalry? President Pierce decided in 1848 that the only way to traverse the western deserts was through the introduction of camels and skilled Muslim drivers. Author Sid Balman begins with this little known historic fact to trace, through four generations, the intertwining sagas of two west Texas families: the Laws, Irish-American; and the Zarkans, Syrian-Americans, involving friendship, revenge, loyalty, multiple wars, and major events spanning a hundred years. Through the inter-generational bonds between these families, Balman offers an antidote to the nativist conflicts along our southern border and the current crisis in the Middle East, pointing to a more global, communal future for Texas and our nation.
March 26, 2019
As soon as I picked up this book (advanced copy), I could not put it down because the story became more unique as I turned each page. What made it so captivating is that it is a story that I'd never read or heard before. The unique portrayal of 2 families, the Laws and Zarkans, are what instantly hooked me and I believe the author did a fantastic job of touching on so many subjects/issues that are still prevalent in today's America. From Eastern vs. Western cultures to the military to the famous Friday night lights of Texas high school football, this novel is really well-done and I highly recommend it.
August 15, 2020
So why did I, a person who rarely reads fiction pick up a non popular fiction book? I was recently staying in the small town of Dell City on a trip and heard about this book based in the small West Texas town and it was written by a Pulitzer nominee.
So at first I somewhat regretted buying it. It's a bit too descriptive for me and I kind of enjoy book with more meat, less flowerly language. I also really wasn't that into the first half. The premise is you follow multiple generations of two families through their life in rural West Texas. This town is in the middle of the West Texan desert but had a peak in population due to the discovery of a water table below. The two families are a Muslim family that ended up there when the families original patriarch came over from Syria to raise camels for the military. The other is a white Texas family that originally bought land there to farm and made out well due to the water rights. The great grandfathers are bound together when the white man's farm hand saved him.
The first half you follow multiple generations through world wars, Vietnam era, 9/11. You don't get to know the characters particularly well as you go swiftly from about the early 1900s through Desert Storm.
Part II is after 9/11 and this is where I finally got the point of the book. Here we see white nationalist radicalization and on the same property Islamic radicalization on this West Texas soil. The great-grandchildren of our original characters are army heroes except one who always felt as an outcast who had left to become part of ISIS. The point is really how ostracized and people who do not feel they have a place or are accepted can easily become radicalized and the white nationalist movement is really not any different than those who became part of ISIS. " At the core of their violent radicalization, there is little difference between an ISIS bomber in London and a white supremacist in Charleston"
Additionally the rise of white nationionalist radicalization further leads to radicalization of those who do not feel welcome or accepted in the US.
"The root of the problem lay in dealing with the underlying reasons people become alienated and so incensed that they would do the unthinkable, like turning themselves into human bombs and blowing up a bus full of children. And the stigmatization of minorities by populist politicians greedy for votes. .. fanned the fire of hatred into an infernoof radicalized flame."
I think the strong point of this book is it really personalized those who are at risk of radicalization. It gives you a bigger appreciation of the multiculturalism of Texas . While surely the story isn't realistic on its own. There's no way that two families would be so intimately involved in so many world events, however, they needed to be tied to the events for the point of the story. It takes looking back on he book to realize how it takes you from a time of unity ( WWII) to a time when the country is divided and full of xenophobia and intolerance. While this is likely an oversimplification the current division is problematic and certainly something people older than us may not recognize. (We do have to recognize that previous decades were not perfect in their acceptance either). At the end I realized this book is supurb and really tied together with a great message of acceptance, the value of multiculturalism, and what it means to be an American.
Honestly this would be a very interesting book to read with a more open - minded book club as I feel that this is a lot to unpack here.
As a side note I found it incredibly ridiculous that any doc let someone play football on an open fracture
So at first I somewhat regretted buying it. It's a bit too descriptive for me and I kind of enjoy book with more meat, less flowerly language. I also really wasn't that into the first half. The premise is you follow multiple generations of two families through their life in rural West Texas. This town is in the middle of the West Texan desert but had a peak in population due to the discovery of a water table below. The two families are a Muslim family that ended up there when the families original patriarch came over from Syria to raise camels for the military. The other is a white Texas family that originally bought land there to farm and made out well due to the water rights. The great grandfathers are bound together when the white man's farm hand saved him.
The first half you follow multiple generations through world wars, Vietnam era, 9/11. You don't get to know the characters particularly well as you go swiftly from about the early 1900s through Desert Storm.
Part II is after 9/11 and this is where I finally got the point of the book. Here we see white nationalist radicalization and on the same property Islamic radicalization on this West Texas soil. The great-grandchildren of our original characters are army heroes except one who always felt as an outcast who had left to become part of ISIS. The point is really how ostracized and people who do not feel they have a place or are accepted can easily become radicalized and the white nationalist movement is really not any different than those who became part of ISIS. " At the core of their violent radicalization, there is little difference between an ISIS bomber in London and a white supremacist in Charleston"
Additionally the rise of white nationionalist radicalization further leads to radicalization of those who do not feel welcome or accepted in the US.
"The root of the problem lay in dealing with the underlying reasons people become alienated and so incensed that they would do the unthinkable, like turning themselves into human bombs and blowing up a bus full of children. And the stigmatization of minorities by populist politicians greedy for votes. .. fanned the fire of hatred into an infernoof radicalized flame."
I think the strong point of this book is it really personalized those who are at risk of radicalization. It gives you a bigger appreciation of the multiculturalism of Texas . While surely the story isn't realistic on its own. There's no way that two families would be so intimately involved in so many world events, however, they needed to be tied to the events for the point of the story. It takes looking back on he book to realize how it takes you from a time of unity ( WWII) to a time when the country is divided and full of xenophobia and intolerance. While this is likely an oversimplification the current division is problematic and certainly something people older than us may not recognize. (We do have to recognize that previous decades were not perfect in their acceptance either). At the end I realized this book is supurb and really tied together with a great message of acceptance, the value of multiculturalism, and what it means to be an American.
Honestly this would be a very interesting book to read with a more open - minded book club as I feel that this is a lot to unpack here.
As a side note I found it incredibly ridiculous that any doc let someone play football on an open fracture
November 3, 2021
As a Texan, I couldn't pass up this opportunity given to me by Book Sparks to join the Audiobook Tour for Sid Balman Jr.'s novel, Seventh Flag.
For those of you unfamiliar with Texas history, six flags have flown over this state: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States, and the United States (the US flag has actually flown twice, now and prior to the Confederate States). So, as you can imagine, there is a lot of blood and turmoil on this land. Sid Balman ran with this rich history as he imagined what a seventh flag might look like... one that would weave together all nationalities, all religions, all people as Americans under one truly United flag, weeding out extremism, intolerance, and prejudice in all forms.
In this historical fiction novel, Balman tells the story of four generations of an Irish American family and a Syrian Muslim family bound together by one fateful event with the family patriarchs. The reader is taken on this vast journey spanning decades of complex racial, religious, and political tensions that have ebbed and flowed over the years.
A timely novel, 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝐹𝑙𝑎𝑔 takes into account all of the historical events that have lead us to this precarious point of political strife and division. And let me just tell you, I learned a heck ton in this short little novel!
Many thanks to Booksparks and Sparkpress for gifting me with this advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.
This audio version of 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝐹𝑙𝑎𝑔 (with a wonderful voice actor👍🏻) is now available to purchase on all major audiobook platforms.
For those of you unfamiliar with Texas history, six flags have flown over this state: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States, and the United States (the US flag has actually flown twice, now and prior to the Confederate States). So, as you can imagine, there is a lot of blood and turmoil on this land. Sid Balman ran with this rich history as he imagined what a seventh flag might look like... one that would weave together all nationalities, all religions, all people as Americans under one truly United flag, weeding out extremism, intolerance, and prejudice in all forms.
In this historical fiction novel, Balman tells the story of four generations of an Irish American family and a Syrian Muslim family bound together by one fateful event with the family patriarchs. The reader is taken on this vast journey spanning decades of complex racial, religious, and political tensions that have ebbed and flowed over the years.
A timely novel, 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝐹𝑙𝑎𝑔 takes into account all of the historical events that have lead us to this precarious point of political strife and division. And let me just tell you, I learned a heck ton in this short little novel!
Many thanks to Booksparks and Sparkpress for gifting me with this advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.
This audio version of 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝐹𝑙𝑎𝑔 (with a wonderful voice actor👍🏻) is now available to purchase on all major audiobook platforms.
October 19, 2021
I am not sure how to describe this book. It is a fictional, but very realistic account of two families who make a small town in West Texas their home. Irish American and Syrian American, Christian and Muslim, night and day, yet these families are neighbors and friends with a bond that goes back generations.
⠀
This novel is an epic story that takes these families from the bloody knife fight in a Juarez cantina where Jack Laws, an Irish American who staked his claim in the rich land of West Texas and Ali Zarkan, who’s great grandfather had immigrated to America as part of President Pierce’s attempt to form a US Army Camel Corps. The bond they formed kept the families close through 3 generations of presidents, wars, racism, radicalism, and, of course, since it is West Texas, football.
⠀
When I was growing up in Texas, a trip to the Six Flags amusement park was also a history lesson about the six flags that had flown over Texas. This book proposes a seventh flag. A flag not identifying a single state/country/culture, but an ambiguous flag symbolizing a mixture of all cultures, religions, races, all people. A flag symbolizing unity.
⠀
I will be honest, I used to think of the United States flag as a flag that unifies, but it is definitely not that way right now. I really wish it was. I really enjoyed this book that showed two families, that society often says should be at odds with each other, close and intertwined in many ways.
⠀
⠀
This novel is an epic story that takes these families from the bloody knife fight in a Juarez cantina where Jack Laws, an Irish American who staked his claim in the rich land of West Texas and Ali Zarkan, who’s great grandfather had immigrated to America as part of President Pierce’s attempt to form a US Army Camel Corps. The bond they formed kept the families close through 3 generations of presidents, wars, racism, radicalism, and, of course, since it is West Texas, football.
⠀
When I was growing up in Texas, a trip to the Six Flags amusement park was also a history lesson about the six flags that had flown over Texas. This book proposes a seventh flag. A flag not identifying a single state/country/culture, but an ambiguous flag symbolizing a mixture of all cultures, religions, races, all people. A flag symbolizing unity.
⠀
I will be honest, I used to think of the United States flag as a flag that unifies, but it is definitely not that way right now. I really wish it was. I really enjoyed this book that showed two families, that society often says should be at odds with each other, close and intertwined in many ways.
⠀
March 23, 2025
Sid Balman is my professor and a brilliant man with so many ideas to offer the world. I’m not one for historical fiction and seeing as his background is in journalism it’s no surprise that this book felt like a long news article. It got boring at times and switched between being interesting and being dull. We had to read this for class (yes he assigned it for class) and I think I got a little something out of it. I kinda feel like it lacked certain deep emotion and I didn’t get particularly attached to any characters or have a fav.
November 11, 2019
Like all great stories, I was sad when this book ended! An impressive debut novel of historical fiction, Seventh Flag tells a story of a changing political and economic landscape, and deftly intertwines it with six decades of U.S. history. A Texas-sized tale of football, friends, and family, it reminds us that our traditions and values unite us, and that we have far more in common with each other than we realize.
March 26, 2019
Great story. Great historical detail. So relevant.
Had a chance to read an early copy. You will love it when it comes out.
Had a chance to read an early copy. You will love it when it comes out.
November 5, 2021
Seventh Flag is a work of historical fiction that felt like I was reading a true story. The seventh flag title refers to a flag "of a mosaic of cultures, religions, and people from every corner of the world--all struggling to define what it means to be unified under an ambiguous banner".
Set in West Texas we follow two families, the Zarkans and the Laws. The Zarkans came to the states from Syria as part of President Franklin Pierces' attempt to to create an Army camel core in the mid-1800s. The Laws are Irish Americans. We begin with Ali Zarkan and Jack Laws forming a strong, albeit slightly unlikely bond. This family friendship and loyalty continues through the generations through military service and a common bond in Texas, football.
Through the generations and characters we see how the families life paths differed based on their backgrounds, religion and ethnicities yet still shared such strong bonds. From the synopsis "underlying their experiences is the basic question of what constitutes identity and citizenship"
Set in West Texas we follow two families, the Zarkans and the Laws. The Zarkans came to the states from Syria as part of President Franklin Pierces' attempt to to create an Army camel core in the mid-1800s. The Laws are Irish Americans. We begin with Ali Zarkan and Jack Laws forming a strong, albeit slightly unlikely bond. This family friendship and loyalty continues through the generations through military service and a common bond in Texas, football.
Through the generations and characters we see how the families life paths differed based on their backgrounds, religion and ethnicities yet still shared such strong bonds. From the synopsis "underlying their experiences is the basic question of what constitutes identity and citizenship"
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews