The Flag Never Touched the Ground

The story of an all-black regiment's assault on the impregnable Fort Wagner in the Civil War, an act of extraordinary courage that changed hearts and minds in America for ever

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 1863.

On a cold beach in South Carolina, the soldiers of the 54th Massachussets Regiment are marching into battle. Their mission: to capture the impregnable Fort Wagner. The odds are heavily against them, and the stakes could not be higher - they are one of the first all-Black regiments in the Union Army, and all of America is watching them.

Among their ranks is William Harvey Carney. A former enslaved man who escaped to the North, he knows what a precious thing freedom is. So when the bugle sounds, and the regimental flag is hoisted high, William charges towards the guns.

An author, speaker and writing teacher, Kekla Magoon has been longlisted for the National Book Award, received an NAACP Image Award, and three Coretta Scott King Awards. She initially studied history at Northwestern University in the US, and loves to uncover the stories of the brave and creative people who have come before us. Her books about civil rights and social justice in America include X, a novel about Malcolm X co-written with his daughter, and The Rock and the River, about a young boy torn between his civil rights leader father and his Black Panther brother.