An impressive, fascinating meditation on a timeless issue, The Mystery of Courage is interdisciplinary scholarship at its very best. It is a tribute to the writing that all Miller's erudition never gets in the reader's way. This will surely be the definitive account of courage for our generation and perhaps for our time: no mean feat, given the pantheon of authors cited in the book who have devoted themselves to this subject.
[Miller] had planned to take up the topic of cowardice. Instead, he found himself intrigued and baffled by the opposite of that vice. In Miller's new book, The Mystery of Courage , he explains that bravery is much harder to define than we might think. Does it take more courage to launch a bold attack or maintain a stout defense? Is courage the result of passion or reason? Is moral courage superior to physical courage or vice versa? And has our contemporary life, often shielded from danger and the immediate threat of war, lost some of its grandeur and resonance because courage—whatever that may be—is seldom demanded of us? It's impossible to read Miller's book without jumping from these larger philosophical questions to the even more difficult personal ones, questions that explore the limits of our own fortitude.
[Miller] is brave enough to have written a book about courage, a subject he regards—as much at the end as at the beginning of his story—as a 'mystery.' Not that its mysteriousness prevents it from being of absorbing interest. Miller is at his best in displaying the results of his trawlings through the literature of war for examples that illuminate what he calls 'the emotional terrain' of courage, which includes all those counter-urges—fear, shame, humiliation, and disgust—that courage must overcome.
National Review - James Bowman
In his animated and absorbing investigation into The Mystery of Courage , William Ian Miller draws on a variety of sources, ancient and modern, to examine a virtue that is far more complicated than it first may appear...Although Miller may not have solved the mystery of courage, it was probably not his intention to do so. Instead, his book serves the far better purpose of opening up the subject and setting us thinking.
Christian Science Monitor - Merle Rubin
[Miller] displays an exquisite feel for the warring emotions overlain by courage, such as cowardice, fear, and shame, and for the situations in which courage is displayed. Its stage is primarily combat...[which] Miller examines with astuteness and sensibility to layered meanings...An accessible intellectual exploration.
Booklist - Gilbert Taylor
It takes great courage to write about courage...[and] Miller has written to the challenge. The Mystery of Courage is an irresistible meditation on a virtue that you might not think you want to read this much about, but almost right away, you do...[Miller's] prose is scholarly and vigorous. Majestic rhythms echo throughout the book.
Ann Arbor News - Anne Valentine Martino
The Mystery of Courage is immensely wide-ranging and intelligent. It is the more interesting for having started as a book on cowardice, which was overcome by the courage shown by the subjects of Miller's researches, most notably soldiers.
BBC History Magazine - John Hudson
Like a veteran hunter onto the scent of some elusive beast, William Miller relentlessly tracks down the mystery of courage from the Greeks to Vietnam with common sense and a humanity free of both naivete and cynicism. From his fascinating survey of literature, philosophy, history and anthropology, we learn that courage, after taking quite a beating from the modern age, is still with us after all. A rare encomium to those few who want to live but are not afraid to die for others, and who out of reason embrace sacrifice, find shame a worse thing than suffering, and count the physical world far less than the spiritual.
The Mystery of Courage is immensely wide-ranging and intelligent. It is the more interesting for having started as a book on cowardice, which was overcome by the courage shown by the subjects of Miller's researches, most notably soldiers.--John Hudson "BBC History Magazine" (11/1/2002 12:00:00 AM)The Mystery of Courage , he explains that bravery is much harder to define than we might think. Does it take more courage to launch a bold attack or maintain a stout defense? Is courage the result of passion or reason? Is moral courage superior to physical courage or vice versa? And has our contemporary life, often shielded from danger and the immediate threat of war, lost some of its grandeur and resonance because courage--whatever that may be--is seldom demanded of us? It's impossible to read Miller's book without jumping from these larger philosophical questions to the even more difficult personal ones, questions that explore the limits of our own fortitude.--Laura Miller "Salon.com" (10/25/2000 12:00:00 AM)The Mystery of Courage , William Ian Miller draws on a variety of sources, ancient and modern, to examine a virtue that is far more complicated than it first may appear...Although Miller may not have solved the mystery of courage, it was probably not his intention to do so. Instead, his book serves the far better purpose of opening up the subject and setting us thinking.--Merle Rubin "Christian Science Monitor" (12/21/2000 12:00:00 AM)The Mystery of Courage is an irresistible meditation on a virtue that you might not think you want to read this much about, but almost right away, you do...[Miller's] prose is scholarly and vigorous. Majestic rhythms echo throughout the book.--Anne Valentine Martino "Ann Arbor News" (9/10/2000 12:00:00 AM)The Mystery of Courage is interdisciplinary scholarship at its very best. It is a tribute to the writing that all Miller's erudition never gets in the reader's way. This will surely be the definitive account of courage for our generation and perhaps for our time: no mean feat, given the pantheon of authors cited in the book who have devoted themselves to this subject.--Larry Kramer, New York University School of LawThe Soul of Battle and The Land Was Everything
The Mystery of Courage is immensely wide-ranging and intelligent. It is the more interesting for having started as a book on cowardice, which was overcome by the courage shown by the subjects of Miller's researches, most notably soldiers.
[Miller] had planned to take up the topic of cowardice. Instead, he found himself intrigued and baffled by the opposite of that vice. In Miller's new book, The Mystery of Courage , he explains that bravery is much harder to define than we might think. Does it take more courage to launch a bold attack or maintain a stout defense? Is courage the result of passion or reason? Is moral courage superior to physical courage or vice versa? And has our contemporary life, often shielded from danger and the immediate threat of war, lost some of its grandeur and resonance because courage--whatever that may be--is seldom demanded of us? It's impossible to read Miller's book without jumping from these larger philosophical questions to the even more difficult personal ones, questions that explore the limits of our own fortitude.
In his animated and absorbing investigation into The Mystery of Courage , William Ian Miller draws on a variety of sources, ancient and modern, to examine a virtue that is far more complicated than it first may appear...Although Miller may not have solved the mystery of courage, it was probably not his intention to do so. Instead, his book serves the far better purpose of opening up the subject and setting us thinking.
Christian Science Monitor
It takes great courage to write about courage...[and] Miller has written to the challenge. The Mystery of Courage is an irresistible meditation on a virtue that you might not think you want to read this much about, but almost right away, you do...[Miller's] prose is scholarly and vigorous. Majestic rhythms echo throughout the book.
Though he alludes to the connection only briefly in closing, one has the sense that this book is his reckoning with his own moral conundrum: What did I do in the age of 'Nam? There's little overt autobiographical information, but the personal concerns ooze from the interstices of the text.
[Miller] displays an exquisite feel for the warring emotions overlain by courage, such as cowardice, fear, and shame, and for the situations in which courage is displayed. Its stage is primarily combat...[which] Miller examines with astuteness and sensibility to layered meanings...An accessible intellectual exploration.
[Miller] is brave enough to have written a book about courage, a subject he regards--as much at the end as at the beginning of his story--as a 'mystery.' Not that its mysteriousness prevents it from being of absorbing interest. Miller is at his best in displaying the results of his trawlings through the literature of war for examples that illuminate what he calls 'the emotional terrain' of courage, which includes all those counter-urges--fear, shame, humiliation, and disgust--that courage must overcome.
Though he alludes to the connection only briefly in closing, one has the sense that this book is his reckoning with his own moral conundrum: What did I do in the age of 'Nam? There's little overt autobiographical information, but the personal concerns ooze from the interstices of the text.
[Miller] is brave enough to have written a book about courage, a subject he regards—as much at the end as at the beginning of his story—as a 'mystery.' Not that its mysteriousness prevents it from being of absorbing interest. Miller is at his best in displaying the results of his trawlings through the literature of war for examples that illuminate what he calls 'the emotional terrain' of courage, which includes all those counter-urges—fear, shame, humiliation, and disgust—that courage must overcome.
In his animated and absorbing investigation into The Mystery of Courage , William Ian Miller draws on a variety of sources, ancient and modern, to examine a virtue that is far more complicated than it first may appear...Although Miller may not have solved the mystery of courage, it was probably not his intention to do so. Instead, his book serves the far better purpose of opening up the subject and setting us thinking.
[Miller] had planned to take up the topic of cowardice. Instead, he found himself intrigued and baffled by the opposite of that vice. In Miller's new book, The Mystery of Courage , he explains that bravery is much harder to define than we might think. Does it take more courage to launch a bold attack or maintain a stout defense? Is courage the result of passion or reason? Is moral courage superior to physical courage or vice versa? And has our contemporary life, often shielded from danger and the immediate threat of war, lost some of its grandeur and resonance because courage—whatever that may be—is seldom demanded of us? It's impossible to read Miller's book without jumping from these larger philosophical questions to the even more difficult personal ones, questions that explore the limits of our own fortitude.
It takes great courage to write about courage...[and] Miller has written to the challenge. The Mystery of Courage is an irresistible meditation on a virtue that you might not think you want to read this much about, but almost right away, you do...[Miller's] prose is scholarly and vigorous. Majestic rhythms echo throughout the book.
Originally conceived as a meditation on cowardice in an extension of his "misanthropic series" (The Anatomy of Disgust; Humiliation), Miller's volume eventually gave way to the more compelling qualities of that "glorious phantom," courage. Unfortunately, fear remains the heart of the work. Miller seems unable to see courage positively; rather he views it as a negative state in which people merely lack a motivating fear. His language repeatedly plays on self-doubt. Discussing military duty, he confesses, as though driven by personal demons, "those who were given these orders and duties, with very few exceptions did not refuse them. The rate of compliance flabbergasts us, because we cannot quite trust that we would not have collapsed sniveling or cowering." The emphasis on fear, especially physical fear of death or injury in combat, leaves Miller nonplussed by non-martial forms of courage that have less to do with fear than sacrifice, determination and will: nurses in war zones and women on the frontier are dispensed with in two sentences. The convoluted structure also leads to some strange definitions of courage: "among the Cossacks... courage's substance may have been nine parts pitilessness and cruelty." As a law professor, Miller is well positioned to discuss social contracts and how people resolve conflicts between the good of society and self-preservation. Instead, he explores such trivial (or uncontroversial) issues as whether a man suffering a heart attack in a cafe should bother other patrons to get medical help. Miller admits at the outset that he cannot pin down the nature of courage; his failure to explore its deep moral and ethical issues will disappoint serious readers. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
In this fourth solo effort, Miller (The Anatomy of Disgust) presents a provocative analysis of the fine line between courage and cowardice. Using historical example, literature, and the memoirs of soldiers, sailors, and marines, Miller has put together a witty, articulate, and thoughtful study of why some fight and some run. From ancient Greeks and Romans to the 20th-century warrior, Miller examines the social, cultural, and psychological factors that define courage and cowardice. Through the occasional psychobabble, Miller does offer some interesting insights into this unsolvable psychological mystery. He determines that courage is what society perceives it to be, whether moral or physical. Instinct, luck, training, peer pressure, opportunity, skill, shame, and the desire for glory are all factors that can influence the actions of a hero or a coward. Most interesting is his surprising discussion of how and why cowardice is a crime in the military society. This excellent study is rich with examples of those who stood or ran in battle and how they were judged by their fellow soldiers; it would be a perfect companion to John Keegan's superb book, The Face of Battle (1983). Recommended for all public libraries.-Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC, (ret.), Sebascodegan Island, ME
Readers who balk at the prospect of wading through reams of dry data and leaden prose have nothing to fear from Miller. His approach is brisk and colorful, qualitative rather than quantitative.Christian Science Monitor
