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Summary: Why Courage Matters
Review: Senator McCain has put together stories of others that have shown courage in the face of fear and how they over came that fear through their courage and the courage of others to move on in life. Each of our lives have a fear factor and in his book he shows us that the fear factor can be over come. A must read- Larry Hobson- Author- "The Day Of The Rose"
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Summary: Traditional Courage
Review: Senator McCain puts together a plethora of real-life stories from a diverse collection of courageous people to illustrate the application of courage and how you can learn to function with fear as a part of your life. While his examples are drawn from circumstances beyond the scope of most of our lives, (military war heroes, explorers, Civil Rights movement leaders, Native Americans, religious leaders, and Burmese dissidents), his intent is to teach the reader how to face the daily challenges of life bravely.This book is a reflection of Senator McCain's life, which he admits has not always been up to the level of courageousness he would wish (referring to his Vietnam experiences). By telling the stories of how others handled difficult situations, McCain succeeds in teaching the reader how to face fear. His book extols the honor of self-sacrifice for the benefit of others, and defines courage as "the capacity for action despite our fears." Regardless of your political beliefs or opinion of McCain, this book is worth reading and sharing with others.
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Summary: The Meaning Of Courage, From A Man Who Knows
Review: This extended essay on courage comes from a man who has displayed it in abundance, although not surprisingly, he seeks to deny or minimize that. Senator John McCain endured years of physical and psychological torture as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war and has gone on to display courage of a different, but no less real sort, in the political arena. McCain introduces us to a variety of people who have displayed the dimensions of courage--Medal of Honor winner Sgt. Roy Benavidez, who rescued eight of his comrades in Cambodia despite suffering grievous wounds that would leave him hospitalized for months; Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has endured house arrest, separation from her family and other depravations in her battle to secure freedom for the peoples of Burma; civil rights leader John Lewis; a Baltimore mother who paid the ultimate price for fighting the drug dealers in her neighborhood; and others, both famous and obscure. Courage is not easy to define, McCain suggests. For years he thought Hemingway's famous phrase ("grace under pressure") might be as good as any, but explains how decades of thinking and experience have led him to a deeper understanding, if not a more precise definition, of this significant human quality. Courage has many dimensions, he suggests; though physical bravery is often an element of it, it's not a necessity. What does seem to be an absolute, in McCain's view, is that for an action to be truly courageous it must be grounded in firm moral beliefs. Senator McCain has given us a worthwhile, empowering book.--William C. Hall
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Summary: Outstanding book - should be required reading for our kids
Review: this is one great book and should be required reading for our kids. regardless of your politics or feeling about Senator McCain you need to read this book. Real life people with real courage and not the made up kind we see on the TV. Read it now.
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Summary: He should be our leader
Review: This man is better than Bush or Kerry in every aspect of human life. Any American born citizen should read everything of his published works and stand behind this man. He is the last politican who truly believes in the American Dream. Only review I ever gave 5 stars. Haven't even finished the book and will tell you this is priceless knowledge.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing stories of amazing people.
Review: This short book tells the tale of six or seven very courageous people with short commentary by McCain in between. The people in this book defied the odds and accomplished the impossible. Each of their stories are unique, and McCain explains how each of them show courage in different ways under different circumstances. One consistency between all of the stories in this book is that each of the heros had strong beliefs that drove them to act in amazing ways in the face of extraordinary challenges. Courage is a hard thing to define, but I think McCain has done more than a fair job of it here, using these people's stories as examples.
The one thing I wish this book told more about was McCain's own courage as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He really down plays his own heroism a great deal in this book..
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Summary: Exceptional Tales of Physical and Moral Courage
Review: Why Courage Matters is an extended essay on the subject of what courage is and why each of us should be concerned about learning lessons about courage for ourselves and to pass along to our children.
I couldn't help comparing this book to John F. Kennedy's famous book, Profile in Courage. I thought that the stories in Why Courage Matters were much more visceral and arresting than those stories of political heroism. I graded the book solely based on the stories.
Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez's story of how he earned his Congressional Medal of Honor will amaze and powerfully move you. The man showed unbelievable commitment to his comrades under impossible circumstances, and must have survived only due to the grace of God.
The stubborn journey of one-armed John Wesley Powell to navigate and map the Colorado will strike you as moving beyond courage to something resembling unremitting commitment.
Senator McCain's own tales from his prison camp experiences and those of his compatriots will also move you.
John Lewis's pioneering nonviolence in gaining civil rights in the South will chill you as much as during the days when he bled for all of us.
The story of Hannah Senesh will bring a tear to your eye and a richer sense of what it means to be a good person . . . regardless the circumstances.
Aung San Suu Kyi will show you how a single, fragile woman can by her sacrifice and example bring hope to a whole nation during its darkest hours.
The book ends with the gut-wrenching tale of Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud during the Korean War.
With so many good stories, I was tempted to grade the book higher . . . but then I remembered that a number of the stories didn't seem to fit or quite work. Finding even one more good story would have been a better idea than using the others.
I was very impressed that the book contained so many tales of women and those who are considered minorities in the Land of the Free. It was a nice touch to recognize these often neglected heroes.
The essay aspect of the book was as elementary as it can be. Too much courage simply gets you killed. You have to be afraid before what you do is courageous. No one is sure when they are going to feel called to be courageous. And so on.
The best parts were the essays on what lessons to share with your children. I think the book would have been better if it had solely focused on that aspect of life. Children run into more situations that require courage in a year than most adults do in a decade.
I came away feeling cleansed by a better sense of the best of what we are capable of doing.
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Summary: The last of the Samurai
Review: You have to have respect for this guy just for what he managed to survive. There aren't too many writers that can authoritatively whip off a book on this subject.
McCain uses sharp and very elloquent English to account his experiences in the midst of courage greater than his own. He is modest and humble and, at the same time, his observations penetrate and enlighten with great effect.
Very little of the book is about him directly. He speaks mostly of people he knows, respects and has learned from. From Eleanor Roosevelt to Roy Benevidez, numerous accounts of valour, honor, wisdom and raw courage are siphoned off from a master survivor.
I may not be any more courageous now than I was before the read, but, what can I say...? A book that needs to be written needs to be read and I've got even more reasons now to respect political leaders that actually 'walk the walk.' Pity that so few of them are recognized now by the greater public.
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