We are in a patriotic month in a patriotic age. Our nation displays its colors, sings its songs, honors its past and argues its present. The sights and sounds of the Fourth of July all serve to remind us of our identity as a nation, but what does that identity mean? Four new books offer insight into this question.

Patriotic music is a staple of Fourth of July picnics. But where did these songs come from, and how did they become a part of our national character? Songs Sung Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America’s Best-Loved Patriotic Songs (HarperResource, $14.95, 223 pages, ISBN 0060513047), by Ace Collins, explores the history of our nation’s music, from the grade school favorite “Yankee Doodle” to the modern staple “God Bless the U.S.

A.” These are the songs that have led us into battle, motivated us to change and inspired us to believe. In each chapter, Collins reveals the stories behind our favorite national tunes, delving into the lives of the songwriters and performers who made them famous. The book also offers a look at the mood and mind of the nation during the time when each song appeared and shows how the songs themselves have been changed by the nation they praise. For those with a love of music or history, or readers looking for a patriotic lift, Collins’ little book is a treat.

In the same manner, Stars ∧ Stripes Forever: The Histories, Stories, and Memories of Our American Flag, by Richard H. Schneider, takes a look at the history of our nation’s most beloved symbol, from the early vague description enacted by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777, to the tattered icon rescued from the rubble of the World Trade Center after September 11, 2001. The book is a collection of history, observations and anecdotes about “Old Glory” (including the origin of that name), set off by moving recollections from veterans, celebrities and citizens about their experiences of the Stars and Stripes. Schneider delves into thoroughly modern controversies about the flag and patriotism, from the Pledge of Allegiance to bizarre Internet conspiracy theories. In many ways, this inspiring book is as much a history of our nation and its attitudes towards patriotism as it is a history of the flag itself.

Exploring the meaning of patriotism is at the center of Caroline Kennedy’s latest book. A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love (Hyperion, $24.95, 643 pages, ISBN 0786869186) is a compilation of opinions and art from more than two centuries of American experience. In the introduction, Kennedy calls the book her “collage of America,” and an exceptional collage it is. From George Washington’s farewell address to Loretta Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Kennedy has created a marvelous mixture of speeches, opinions, lyrics and literary works about America and her people. As great as the differences are between the voices she selects (where else will you find Ronald Reagan collected with Cesar Chavez?), there is something uniquely American in every one.

Among the unique voices of America, few are more vocal and controversial than Alan Dershowitz. Built around an examination of the words and ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, America Declares Independence (Wiley, $19.95, 196 pages, ISBN 0471264822) is Dershowitz’s latest broadside in the continuing argument over the appropriate relationship between church and state. Using Thomas Jefferson as both touchstone and target, Dershowitz argues that the founders, many of whom were Deists, never intended for America to be an explicitly Christian nation. Readers can (and likely will) debate whether Dershowitz proves his points, but this book stands as a testament to the diversity of opinion that can exist under one flag and that may be exactly what defines our nation best. Howard Shirley is a writer in Nashville.

On September 7, 1857, a wagon train of pioneers on their way to California was ambushed at a place called Mountain Meadows in southwestern Utah. At first, the attackers appeared to be Indians, but in the five days of siege that followed, it became evident that they were not. As the settlers slowly resigned themselves to being overwhelmed, a large party of white men bearing a white flag approached the embattled camp and offered the survivors safe passage if they would lay down their arms. After they had done so, the “rescuers” separated the men, women and children into groups and marched them along the trail. Then, in response to a pre-arranged command, the supposed protectors turned on the settlers and shot them point-blank or slit their throats. Within three minutes, 140 people lay dead. Only about 15 or 20 children, whom the attackers deemed too young to bear witness against them, were spared. The killers were Mormons.

The Mountain Meadows massacre remains one of the most nettlesome events in the Mormon Church’s bloody history. Was the slaughter ordered by the church’s leader, Brigham Young, or was it the misguided action of his overzealous adherents? Award-winning journalist Sally Denton leaves little doubt that it was the former.

Instead of treating the incident as an aberration, in her compelling new book American Massacre, she places it in the context of a religious movement that owed much of its success to cultivating an us-against-them attitude among its members. The perception that any outsider might be an enemy of the faith made an atrocity like Mountain Meadows inevitable. Particularly effective in demonstrating how the national outcry against the massacre kept building until even the intractable Young had to give in to it, Denton has written a fascinating and thorough account of the tumultuous event and its aftermath. This is a superb piece of scholarship that reads like a novel.