A Call to Heroism: Renewing America's Vision of Greatness [Paperback]

Peter H. Gibbon (Author), Peter J. Gomes (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2003

America is a nation founded on ideals — liberty, justice, and tolerance chief among them — and in A Call to Heroism, Peter Gibbon argues that the heroes we honor are the embodiment of these ideals. Because the very concept of heroism has come under threat in our cynical media age, Gibbon believes that we must forge a new understanding of what it means to be a hero in order to fortify our ideals as we engage our present challenges and face those that lie ahead. In a series of essays, Gibbon examines the types of heroes that we have celebrated throughout our history. Along the way, he contemplates the meanings of seven monuments and works of art dedicated to heroes (for instance, Mount Rushmore) to examine what these places and things say about the America of their time — and what they mean for Americans today. Full of insight and inspiration, A Call to Heroism is a provocative look at a timeless subject that has never been more important.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Is Michael Jordan a hero?... Lenny Bruce?... Why can't Charles Manson be a hero? These are among the questions teenagers pose to Gibbon when he addresses them on the subject of heroism. Gibbon, a research associate at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, answers in a series of brief reflections. Examining the writings of Emerson and Carlyle, the 19th century's premier thinkers on the subject, Gibbon extracts several characteristics of the hero: sincerity, persistence, intuition, austerity, bravery and virtue. He then defines a hero as a person of extraordinary achievement, courage, and greatness of soul. Reading through these lenses, Gibbon establishes his own hall of heroes, many not surprising: Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass; others more unexpected: Lucretia Mott, artist Kathe Kollwitz, educators Martha Berry and Horace Mann. He examines the models of the warrior-hero and the athlete-hero and their impact on American notions of the hero. Disgusted by the contemporary cult of celebrity, Gibbon asserts that celebrities lack the greatness of soul and moral vision that being a hero requires. Yet he explores with great candor the shortcomings of his own representative men and women. While Gibbon's enthusiasm for restoring the notion of heroism is admirable, his definitions are subjective and depend on the unlikely chance of our returning to a society like Emerson's in which values are commonly shared.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

For the last three years, in venues ranging from public high schools to Newsweek, Gibbon has been proclaiming the need for heroesDin contrast to today's hollow celebrities. Here's a timely summation of his ideas.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1st Grove Press Ed/ 1st Printing edition (August 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802140289
• ISBN-13: 978-0802140289
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,585,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The great need for today., September 27, 2007

By 

K. Turner (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Call to Heroism: Renewing America's Vision of Greatness (Paperback)

This book is not only written well but gives great stories of true heroes we have unfortunately forgotten about. This is a must read for adults and teenagers. Get a true vision of real Heroes again.