- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; 2007 First Edition edition (4 Jun 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747565325
- ISBN-13: 978-0747565321
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.6 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 440,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
'This approach is refreshing and is honoured in the biographical essays, which are readable and intelligent ... That on Bonhoeffer is excellent' Simon Jenkins, Sunday Times 'very moving and completely uncynical' Philip Gould, Guardian 'We see a politician in a stable, democratic country looking with envious awe on those who live in more difficult times - the countries that need heroes' Anne McElvoy, Evening Standard
Product Description
What is it that makes some men and women take difficult decisions and do the right thing against the odds when easier and far less dangerous alternatives are open to them? Why is it that some people - like the undercover heroes working for SOE in Occupied France or the passengers of the United 93 flight on 9/11 - have the courage to dare? To answer these questions, Gordon Brown explores the lives of eight outstanding twentieth-century figures. Starting with Edith Cavell, who nursed the wounded of World War I in Belgium and helped Allied soldiers escape back to England, he goes on to consider the Protestant pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who in 1940 returned to Nazi Germany from New York to lead the Christian opposition against the Nazi regime, and the wealthy businessman Raoul Wallenberg, who left neutral Sweden in 1944 to go to Budapest to try save the lives of Hungarian Jews. All three paid the ultimate price. Telling the stories of America's Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy - who, after his brother's assassination, remade himself as a politician of compassion - and Nelson Mandela, he considers great courage over a long period against daunting odds. And then there is the legacy of Dame Cicely Saunders, who changed the way we care for the dying by founding and leading the Hospice Movement. Finally, he explores the life of Aung San Suu Kyi, who for twenty years, much of that time under house arrest in Rangoon, has led her country's democratic opposition to military dictatorship, and continues to do so today. These eight heroes are very different people, with very different strengths and frailties, but all share an inspirational courage that Gordon Brown celebrates in these fascinating and moving portraits.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not what I expected,
By
This review is from: Courage: Eight Portraits (Hardcover)
I suppose I'm a little cynical but I had expected this to be a kind of a political creedo or Brown setting out his political stall or philosophy as PM but its nothing of the sort.
This is more a statement of personal principles and a social creedo, Brown affirms courage in a variety of forms and really goes to lengths to make points about its worthiness. The writing style is good, Brown has some literary talents and I'm lead to believe this isnt his only book, I suspect he's an avid reader too from the way in which some of the text reads. In the end I was heartened to have read this book, perhaps it is a book which people will be more inclined to borrow from their library than buy but its worth a read. It is much more interesting and rewarding than any of the books or introductions to books which Tony Blair wrote and there is less of the general cynicism provoking suspiscion of spin and platitudes which you may find with the writing of politicans in general. I really wish that some of the things Brown writes about in this book, which essentially transcend political boundaries and barriers or should, were more commonplace than the CHAV or nihilistic cultures that are or seem to be.
7 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite unexpectedly worthwhile,
This review is from: Courage: Eight Portraits (Hardcover)
As other readers have commented, this isn't what you would expect. Frank Kenny's review essentially captures my views on this book. Another good book by brown is his biography of Maxton. As Johann Hari says, its clear that we currently have one of the most intellectually involved Prime ministers we have had. Its refreshing to be able to see the Rupert Murdoch Media empire's horrific distortions and realise what a genuine man we have in Number 10.
7 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspirational subject matter,
By
This review is from: Courage: Eight Portraits (Hardcover)
We are in need of genuine heroes and fine role models and the book points us to 8 wonderful people. It is for this quality that I give the book 5 stars.
While reading, I forgot the author, and I think that if this approach is taken then all readers will find the book uplifting. In a time when most of our heroes come from soaps or the sports field it is refreshing to find a book that focuses on real men and women of substance. Who could not be moved by the courage of each one? Some of the reviews have trashed the book, giving it only one star. This made me both sad and angry, not for the author but for the people he writes about. Consider Bonhoeffer and Cavell, each well aware of the likely consequences of doing what was right, but doing it anyway - and then facing death with the same courage with which they had lived their lives. I found the experience both uplifting and humbling. Unless you are familiar with the 8 stories told, this is well worth a read.
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