American Courage: Remarkable True Stories Exhibiting the Bravery That Has Made Our Country Great [Paperback]

Herbert W. Warden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2006

Here is the American adventure. This extraordinary volume captures a magnificent nation's spirit and the fortitude of those who helped to make it so. Drawn from remarkable firsthand accounts and historical writings, American Courage gives voice to the pilgrims, founding fathers, revolutionaries, pioneers, soldiers, and pilots, among other heroes, in a remarkable collection of harrowing tales, spanning from the Mayflower's landing througSeptember 11, 2001.

• A Plymoutcolonist is held captive during King Philip's War.
• George Washington crosses the Delaware.
• Davy Crockett reports from inside the Alamo.
• General Longstreet recounts Pickett's charge at Gettysburg.
• Sergeant York single-handedly captures 132 German soldiers.
• Charles Lindbergflies across the Atlantic.
• Nine Little Rock students desegregate Central HigSchool.
• Passengers on Flight 93 overpower hijackers on 9/11.

With more than forty thrilling true accounts of bravery, selflessness, and daring, the stories in American Courage reveal the heart and soul of our country.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Readers would have a hard time finding a book more inspiring than American Courage.” (The Sunday Oklahoman )

About the Author

Herbert Warden III is the editor of In Praise of Sailors: A Nautical Anthology of Art, Poetry, and Prose. A graduate of Princeton University, Warden served in the Marine Corps in World War II and the Korean War.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (May 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060782404
• ISBN-13: 978-0060782405
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,302,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars American Heritage, January 14, 2006

By 

D. S. Thurlow (Alaska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: American Courage: Remarkable True Stories Exhibiting the Bravery That Has Made Our Country Great (Hardcover)

Herbert Warden, a Marine Corps veteran of World War II and the Korean War, has put together a collection of stories of Americans showing personal bravery in a variety of tough situations. Warden sees the stories as exemplifying the true spirit of Americans; the reader need not agree with Warden to find the collection worthwhile, even a little humbling.

The story "We Must All Hang Together, or Assuredly We Must All Hang Separately" details the price paid by the original signers for their bravery in signing the Declaration of Independence: most lost their personal possessions to the British, and some were imprisoned or harried to early deaths.

"Saved By Cowboys" provides the story of a young boy in frontier Wyoming who was saved three times by ordinary cowboys upholding a code whose first rule was personal courage.

"Sniper Fight on Okinawa" is famed historian William Manchester's harrowing account of a duel to the death with a Japanese sniper in a small valley.

"Astronauts Rocket to the Moon" recounts the nerve-wracking descent of the Apollo XI lunar module to the surface of the moon in 1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin found themselves searching for a suitable landing site with a dwindling fuel supply and came within seconds of aborting the first manned landing on the moon.

Warden has done a nice job editing these stories down to their essentials; most are extracts from longer narratives. Each story has an introduction to set time and place and provide context for the danger or challenge faced.

This books is recommended to the general reader and to the student of American history, each of whom should find this to be an enjoyable read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars American Courage...voices of the past, March 11, 2007

By 

Stephen W. Mckaig "American" (Raleigh, NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Courage: Remarkable True Stories Exhibiting the Bravery That Has Made Our Country Great (Paperback)

I received this book as a Christmas gift and let it sit unopened for 2 months. When I picked it up and read Mark Twain's account of his trip down the Mississippi, I was hooked. These are the stories of famous and not so famous American people from the Pilgrims to 9/11. Their first hand accounts put you, the reader, in their time and allow you to feel what they saw and did. Whether you read about Washington crossing the Deleware, or Longstreet at Pickett's Charge, or gunfights in the old west, or at D-Day or in the jungles of Vietnam, the struggle of the Civil Rights movement or on Flight 93, these are the stories of how our country was made. We came from strong stock, people of courage and bravery who faced difficult challanges and built the Greatest Civilization in the History of the World. The stories are amazing. I don't know when I have read a book I enjoyed more. Especially good to give to young Adult Americans to give them an appreciation of our rich heritage from the people who were there.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All the stuff without the fluff., December 11, 2009

By 

The Best Out West (West of the Mississippi) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: American Courage: Remarkable True Stories Exhibiting the Bravery That Has Made Our Country Great (Paperback)

A beautifully put together history book. It takes the reader through the popular points in history, and a lot that aren't. This is told by the people who lived it, so the reader is taken right into what was happening. We are taken into the world next to the person living these amazing things in history and feel what is was like to float down the Ohio River while Indians took aim, how awful it actually was to be a pilgrim, and what it was like to fly a bombing mission in WWII. This is a must for any history lover. This is a must for any history teacher. Heck, this is a must for every American. This IS our history.