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Founding Courage: Courage and Character in the United States of America
When the attack comes, the shark will have rolled its eyes until only the whites show…
From a shark attack on the Texas Gulf Coast to the founding of a nation, courage is an essential quality, universally admired, which brings out the best in human character. Courage inspires. Courage seizes victory in defeat. Courage creates heroes.
But what is courage? And where does it come from?
Founding Courage: Courage and Character in the United States of America answers these questions and then goes on to tell the stories of seven courageous Americans, through seven successive generations since the Founding. These Americans—George Washington, David Crockett, Robert Gould Shaw, Crazy Horse, Matthew Henson, Rachel Carson, and Karen Silkwood—each faced daunting, dangerous, and often overwhelming challenges, but found the courage to persevere.
Their stories are the history of the United States.
Their courage defines the character of a nation.
Suitable for the classroom as well as the interested reader, this Twentieth Anniversary Edition has been revised, reformatted, and republished for a new generation of readers of all ages, in an era when we need courage more than ever.
From a shark attack on the Texas Gulf Coast to the founding of a nation, courage is an essential quality, universally admired, which brings out the best in human character. Courage inspires. Courage seizes victory in defeat. Courage creates heroes.
But what is courage? And where does it come from?
Founding Courage: Courage and Character in the United States of America answers these questions and then goes on to tell the stories of seven courageous Americans, through seven successive generations since the Founding. These Americans—George Washington, David Crockett, Robert Gould Shaw, Crazy Horse, Matthew Henson, Rachel Carson, and Karen Silkwood—each faced daunting, dangerous, and often overwhelming challenges, but found the courage to persevere.
Their stories are the history of the United States.
Their courage defines the character of a nation.
Suitable for the classroom as well as the interested reader, this Twentieth Anniversary Edition has been revised, reformatted, and republished for a new generation of readers of all ages, in an era when we need courage more than ever.
316 pages, Paperback
First published February 10, 2008
2 people are currently reading
About the author
Kirk Ward Robinson
21 books2 followersKirk Ward Robinson, a four-time Appalachian Trail thru-hiker, was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas and has since lived in every continental American time zone. He is an inveterate hiker and cyclist, with more than 10,000 miles afoot and 20,000 more on a bicycle. His wide-ranging career has included roles as a chief operating officer, bookstore manager, stagehand, bicycle mechanic, and executive director of an educational non-profit organization in cooperation with the National Park Service. Robinson’s Life in Continuum and The Appalachian were both named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books. He earned five stars from Foreword Clarion Reviews for his novel The Latter Half of Inglorious Years, LitPick’s Top Choice Book Review Award for Priscilla Speaks, Feathered Quill’s Reviewer’s Choice Book Award for Ridley Speaks, and OneTribune Media’s Atlas of Stories Award for Founding Courage.
These days he maintains a small ancestral farm in the hills of Tennessee.
These days he maintains a small ancestral farm in the hills of Tennessee.
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November 14, 2025
When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, Kirk Ward Robinson experienced more than grief—he felt a creeping despair about whether American courage had reached its end. Years later, hiking the Appalachian Trail on September 11, 2001, those feelings resurfaced as he learned of the terrorist attacks. These twin moments of national trauma became the genesis of Founding Courage, Robinson's ambitious exploration of what courage truly means in the American context and whether it still burns bright in the national character.
This twentieth anniversary edition arrives at another crucial moment in American history, offering readers a deeply researched, thoughtfully constructed work that moves far beyond simple hero worship to examine the very nature of courage itself across seven successive generations since the Founding.
Building a Framework for Understanding Courage
Robinson structures his work brilliantly, opening with "Of Courage," a section that establishes philosophical and biological frameworks before diving into historical narratives. He takes readers through contemporary examples—from a teenage girl facing a shark attack on the Texas Gulf Coast to a climber trapped by a boulder in a Utah canyon—demonstrating that courage manifests in countless forms across human experience.
What makes this approach particularly effective is Robinson's engagement with scientific research on altruism, evolutionary biology, and the neurological underpinnings of courageous behavior. Drawing from thinkers like Richard Dawkins and UCLA studies on altruism's evolutionary roots, he grounds his work in empirical reality rather than romantic mythology. This intellectual rigor transforms the book into a serious meditation on human character that resonates across disciplines.
Robinson's chapter "What Courage Is" proves especially valuable, dissecting distinctions between courage, bravery, recklessness, and mere survival instinct. He establishes that courage requires both the presence of fear and the conscious decision to act despite it—a nuance often lost in popular discourse about heroism. This framework becomes essential for understanding the seven Americans whose stories form the book's heart.
Seven Lives, Seven Types of Courage
Robinson's selection reveals sophisticated historical understanding: George Washington, David Crockett, Robert Gould Shaw, Crazy Horse, Matthew Henson, Rachel Carson, and Karen Silkwood. He deliberately chose figures who are either lesser-known or whose courageous acts have been overshadowed by other aspects of their legacies.
• George Washington emerges not as a marble monument but as a vulnerable young officer who faced repeated failures before his ultimate triumphs. Robinson portrays Washington's greatest courage not in military victories but in his willingness to relinquish power twice—after the Revolutionary War and after his presidency—establishing precedents that would define American democracy. The author shows Washington's gradual moral evolution regarding slavery, demonstrating moral courage alongside military valor.
• David Crockett's chapter may be the book's most revelatory. Robinson dismantles frontier mythology to reveal the Tennessee congressman whose true courage lay in standing against his own political party and Andrew Jackson when principle demanded it. The author elevates Crockett from cartoon character to genuine American hero whose political courage deserves recognition equal to his legendary frontier exploits.
• Robert Gould Shaw transforms from privileged youth into the colonel who led the first Black regiment in the Civil War. Robinson handles racial dynamics with sensitivity and historical accuracy, showing how Shaw's courage inspired thousands of Black soldiers who enlisted after the 54th Massachusetts Infantry's assault on Fort Wagner, fundamentally changing the Civil War's course.
• Crazy Horse represents a different kind of American courage—defending his people's way of life against impossible odds. Drawing from Win Blevins' Stone Song for accurate Lakota terminology, Robinson demonstrates genuine respect for Native American culture while presenting Crazy Horse as neither villain nor victim but as a man of extraordinary courage facing tragic inevitability.
• Matthew Henson's chapter significantly contributes to popularizing this forgotten explorer's story. Robinson's meticulous research reconstructs Henson's twenty-two-year partnership with Robert Peary, documenting not just his extraordinary Arctic skills but his remarkable perseverance in pursuing exploration despite racial barriers. The narrative builds steadily toward the climactic 1908-1909 journey that reached the North Pole, with Robinson adding psychological depth by exploring the complex Peary-Henson relationship.
• Rachel Carson emerges as multi-dimensionally courageous: morally, to challenge the pesticide industry; intellectually, to present complex science to general audiences; and physically, to continue working while battling cancer. Robinson's account of Carson writing Silent Spring while undergoing radiation therapy transforms our understanding of the book's creation from academic exercise into an act of profound will.
• Karen Silkwood brings the narrative to the contemporary era, examining an ordinary person who chose to speak truth to power despite mounting threats. Robinson handles complex conspiracy theories with journalistic care while honoring Silkwood's memory, showing how her father's years-long fight for truth illustrated courage inherited and sustained across generations.
Exceptional Writing and Accessibility
Robinson writes with clarity and restraint that serves his material exceptionally well. His prose becomes lyrical when describing landscapes—particularly vivid in the Crazy Horse chapter's Great Plains depictions and the Matthew Henson chapter's Arctic sequences—yet stylistic flourishes never overshadow historical content. The book reads accessibly for general audiences while maintaining scholarly rigor.
The author's background as a four-time Appalachian Trail thru-hiker infuses the book with an outdoorsman's appreciation for physical endurance and the courage required to push through discomfort and danger. This perspective particularly enriches the chapters on Henson's Arctic expeditions and Crockett's frontier experiences, lending authenticity to descriptions of similar ordeals.
Robinson's commitment to accuracy extends to detailed source listings and transparent acknowledgment of gaps and contradictions in historical records. This intellectual honesty strengthens the work, showing readers that rigorous history-writing involves wrestling with uncertainty while still drawing meaningful conclusions.
Connecting Past Courage to Present Need
What elevates Founding Courage beyond typical historical biography is Robinson's consistent effort to connect past courage to present need. The book's framing—written in the shadow of 9/11 and revised during another period of national division—never feels forced. Instead, Robinson trusts readers to draw their own connections between these historical figures' courage and the courage demanded by contemporary challenges.
The twentieth anniversary edition includes a preface reflecting on how America has changed since the original 2007 publication, with Robinson being vulnerable about his own journey from idealism through despair and back to cautious hope. This candor demonstrates the author's own courage in sharing his evolving perspective with readers.
Educational and Thematic Value
Beyond engaging historical narrative, Founding Courage serves excellently as an educational resource. Each biographical chapter functions as a self-contained unit that can be assigned independently or as part of the larger whole. The variety of courage types examined—military, political, moral, cultural, pioneering, intellectual, and whistleblowing—allows educators to explore courage from multiple angles and connect it to different curriculum areas.
Several powerful themes emerge across Robinson's seven biographical chapters:
• The Courage to Stand Alone: From Crockett defying his party to Carson challenging powerful industries to Crazy Horse resisting the reservation system, true courage often means standing alone against prevailing currents.
• The Evolution of Courage: Washington's transformation from impetuous young officer to measured leader, and Shaw's growth from privileged youth to selfless commander, demonstrate that courage can be developed through experience.
• The Cost and Legacy of Courage: Robinson shows what courage cost his subjects—reputation, career, health, life itself—while his epilogue traces how each subject's courage influenced subsequent events, demonstrating that courageous actions create lasting change even when immediate results seem disappointing.
A Testament to Enduring Values
Founding Courage succeeds admirably in its stated purpose: to document courage as it has manifested across American history and demonstrate that this quality remains deeply embedded in the American character. Robinson's seven biographical chapters present nuanced portraits of flawed humans who nevertheless rose to meet extraordinary challenges.
Robinson's fundamental insight—that courage is not the absence of fear but action in spite of it—echoes throughout these seven stories. Whether facing musket balls at Fort Wagner, Arctic temperatures forty degrees below zero, corporate retaliation for whistleblowing, or defending a disappearing way of life, these seven Americans demonstrated that courage takes many forms but springs from a common human capacity for principled action despite terrible odds.
The book serves multiple audiences effectively: general readers seeking engaging historical narratives will find Robinson's storytelling compelling; students of American history will appreciate the research and contextual analysis; those grappling with questions about American identity in troubled times will find the book thought-provoking and ultimately hopeful.
For readers seeking to understand not just American history but the human capacity for courage itself, Founding Courage offers insights that transcend national boundaries while remaining deeply rooted in the American experience. Robinson has crafted a work that educates, inspires, and challenges in equal measure—a book that rewards multiple readings and leaves readers believing in human potential for goodness and bravery, even in the face of overwhelming odds.
This twentieth anniversary edition arrives at another crucial moment in American history, offering readers a deeply researched, thoughtfully constructed work that moves far beyond simple hero worship to examine the very nature of courage itself across seven successive generations since the Founding.
Building a Framework for Understanding Courage
Robinson structures his work brilliantly, opening with "Of Courage," a section that establishes philosophical and biological frameworks before diving into historical narratives. He takes readers through contemporary examples—from a teenage girl facing a shark attack on the Texas Gulf Coast to a climber trapped by a boulder in a Utah canyon—demonstrating that courage manifests in countless forms across human experience.
What makes this approach particularly effective is Robinson's engagement with scientific research on altruism, evolutionary biology, and the neurological underpinnings of courageous behavior. Drawing from thinkers like Richard Dawkins and UCLA studies on altruism's evolutionary roots, he grounds his work in empirical reality rather than romantic mythology. This intellectual rigor transforms the book into a serious meditation on human character that resonates across disciplines.
Robinson's chapter "What Courage Is" proves especially valuable, dissecting distinctions between courage, bravery, recklessness, and mere survival instinct. He establishes that courage requires both the presence of fear and the conscious decision to act despite it—a nuance often lost in popular discourse about heroism. This framework becomes essential for understanding the seven Americans whose stories form the book's heart.
Seven Lives, Seven Types of Courage
Robinson's selection reveals sophisticated historical understanding: George Washington, David Crockett, Robert Gould Shaw, Crazy Horse, Matthew Henson, Rachel Carson, and Karen Silkwood. He deliberately chose figures who are either lesser-known or whose courageous acts have been overshadowed by other aspects of their legacies.
• George Washington emerges not as a marble monument but as a vulnerable young officer who faced repeated failures before his ultimate triumphs. Robinson portrays Washington's greatest courage not in military victories but in his willingness to relinquish power twice—after the Revolutionary War and after his presidency—establishing precedents that would define American democracy. The author shows Washington's gradual moral evolution regarding slavery, demonstrating moral courage alongside military valor.
• David Crockett's chapter may be the book's most revelatory. Robinson dismantles frontier mythology to reveal the Tennessee congressman whose true courage lay in standing against his own political party and Andrew Jackson when principle demanded it. The author elevates Crockett from cartoon character to genuine American hero whose political courage deserves recognition equal to his legendary frontier exploits.
• Robert Gould Shaw transforms from privileged youth into the colonel who led the first Black regiment in the Civil War. Robinson handles racial dynamics with sensitivity and historical accuracy, showing how Shaw's courage inspired thousands of Black soldiers who enlisted after the 54th Massachusetts Infantry's assault on Fort Wagner, fundamentally changing the Civil War's course.
• Crazy Horse represents a different kind of American courage—defending his people's way of life against impossible odds. Drawing from Win Blevins' Stone Song for accurate Lakota terminology, Robinson demonstrates genuine respect for Native American culture while presenting Crazy Horse as neither villain nor victim but as a man of extraordinary courage facing tragic inevitability.
• Matthew Henson's chapter significantly contributes to popularizing this forgotten explorer's story. Robinson's meticulous research reconstructs Henson's twenty-two-year partnership with Robert Peary, documenting not just his extraordinary Arctic skills but his remarkable perseverance in pursuing exploration despite racial barriers. The narrative builds steadily toward the climactic 1908-1909 journey that reached the North Pole, with Robinson adding psychological depth by exploring the complex Peary-Henson relationship.
• Rachel Carson emerges as multi-dimensionally courageous: morally, to challenge the pesticide industry; intellectually, to present complex science to general audiences; and physically, to continue working while battling cancer. Robinson's account of Carson writing Silent Spring while undergoing radiation therapy transforms our understanding of the book's creation from academic exercise into an act of profound will.
• Karen Silkwood brings the narrative to the contemporary era, examining an ordinary person who chose to speak truth to power despite mounting threats. Robinson handles complex conspiracy theories with journalistic care while honoring Silkwood's memory, showing how her father's years-long fight for truth illustrated courage inherited and sustained across generations.
Exceptional Writing and Accessibility
Robinson writes with clarity and restraint that serves his material exceptionally well. His prose becomes lyrical when describing landscapes—particularly vivid in the Crazy Horse chapter's Great Plains depictions and the Matthew Henson chapter's Arctic sequences—yet stylistic flourishes never overshadow historical content. The book reads accessibly for general audiences while maintaining scholarly rigor.
The author's background as a four-time Appalachian Trail thru-hiker infuses the book with an outdoorsman's appreciation for physical endurance and the courage required to push through discomfort and danger. This perspective particularly enriches the chapters on Henson's Arctic expeditions and Crockett's frontier experiences, lending authenticity to descriptions of similar ordeals.
Robinson's commitment to accuracy extends to detailed source listings and transparent acknowledgment of gaps and contradictions in historical records. This intellectual honesty strengthens the work, showing readers that rigorous history-writing involves wrestling with uncertainty while still drawing meaningful conclusions.
Connecting Past Courage to Present Need
What elevates Founding Courage beyond typical historical biography is Robinson's consistent effort to connect past courage to present need. The book's framing—written in the shadow of 9/11 and revised during another period of national division—never feels forced. Instead, Robinson trusts readers to draw their own connections between these historical figures' courage and the courage demanded by contemporary challenges.
The twentieth anniversary edition includes a preface reflecting on how America has changed since the original 2007 publication, with Robinson being vulnerable about his own journey from idealism through despair and back to cautious hope. This candor demonstrates the author's own courage in sharing his evolving perspective with readers.
Educational and Thematic Value
Beyond engaging historical narrative, Founding Courage serves excellently as an educational resource. Each biographical chapter functions as a self-contained unit that can be assigned independently or as part of the larger whole. The variety of courage types examined—military, political, moral, cultural, pioneering, intellectual, and whistleblowing—allows educators to explore courage from multiple angles and connect it to different curriculum areas.
Several powerful themes emerge across Robinson's seven biographical chapters:
• The Courage to Stand Alone: From Crockett defying his party to Carson challenging powerful industries to Crazy Horse resisting the reservation system, true courage often means standing alone against prevailing currents.
• The Evolution of Courage: Washington's transformation from impetuous young officer to measured leader, and Shaw's growth from privileged youth to selfless commander, demonstrate that courage can be developed through experience.
• The Cost and Legacy of Courage: Robinson shows what courage cost his subjects—reputation, career, health, life itself—while his epilogue traces how each subject's courage influenced subsequent events, demonstrating that courageous actions create lasting change even when immediate results seem disappointing.
A Testament to Enduring Values
Founding Courage succeeds admirably in its stated purpose: to document courage as it has manifested across American history and demonstrate that this quality remains deeply embedded in the American character. Robinson's seven biographical chapters present nuanced portraits of flawed humans who nevertheless rose to meet extraordinary challenges.
Robinson's fundamental insight—that courage is not the absence of fear but action in spite of it—echoes throughout these seven stories. Whether facing musket balls at Fort Wagner, Arctic temperatures forty degrees below zero, corporate retaliation for whistleblowing, or defending a disappearing way of life, these seven Americans demonstrated that courage takes many forms but springs from a common human capacity for principled action despite terrible odds.
The book serves multiple audiences effectively: general readers seeking engaging historical narratives will find Robinson's storytelling compelling; students of American history will appreciate the research and contextual analysis; those grappling with questions about American identity in troubled times will find the book thought-provoking and ultimately hopeful.
For readers seeking to understand not just American history but the human capacity for courage itself, Founding Courage offers insights that transcend national boundaries while remaining deeply rooted in the American experience. Robinson has crafted a work that educates, inspires, and challenges in equal measure—a book that rewards multiple readings and leaves readers believing in human potential for goodness and bravery, even in the face of overwhelming odds.
September 26, 2025
Robinson’s Founding Courage dissects courage not as myth, but as choice. The book blends neuroscience, history, and biography, showing how ordinary humans face extraordinary tests. Its strength lies in presenting courage as both instinct and decision. Readers seeking thoughtful reflection on resilience—not quick hero-worship—will find themselves challenged and inspired.
December 26, 2025
Notable and inspiring people helped create history and inspired change in our world. Some of them inspired others in small ways, while some inspired change in ways that history would recognize in the record books. In the book Founding Courage: Courage and Character in the United States of America by Kirk Ward Robinson, readers will get to meet some not-so-famous individuals who showed courage in daring situations, as well as revisit the history of individuals spoken of in school.
The variety of individuals featured in this book will take readers through various aspects of history, where they will read about people who showed courage against a common enemy or a national threat. Both men and women have summoned their courage for change. The individuals featured in this book truly needed courage to stand up for what was right as well as to help others, and these stories show in remarkable detail how they summoned such courage in spite of any barriers they faced.
The title of this book includes the word “founding,” and it may cause one to think of our nation’s founding fathers. The father of our country, George Washington, was among them, and his was certainly a life of courage. So of course he belongs in this book, as readers of biographies about George Washington would be aware that his was a life bravely lived. Despite the obstacles he faced, he thrived both in military service and in politics. This chapter alone is an inspiration to read and echoes the importance of a life well-lived among those mentioned in this book who showed great courage in the face of danger.
While reading many of the stories in this book did not mean taking a deep dive into every life profiled, it would seem that the lifetime of some has been covered more in-depth. Take, for example, the chapter about Matthew Henson. Before reading this book, I had never heard of Henson, nor did I know of his accomplishments as an Arctic explorer. This was a very fascinating chapter to read, and I am grateful to the author for writing a chapter that almost reads like a brief biography of Henson.
I was truly impressed by the chapter about Rachel Carson, a person whom, up until the time I read this chapter, I knew only to be the author of Silent Spring. This chapter about her life and work was truly gratifying and educational. And the last chapter about Karen Silkwood, a woman I had never known about, was also a truly engaging read. Both chapters, one of a woman widely known and another of a woman not so widely known, were intriguing, informative, and engrossing. I could not stop reading these chapters, even though I had to on occasion due to responsibilities. But they completely held my interest.
In fact, all of the chapters in this book held my interest. From the unknown to the known, the famous to the not-so-famous, several people’s profiles of courage are recorded in this book. It was also interesting to read the author’s thoughts and ideas about what exactly defines “courage” and who among the many people throughout history were worthy of being called “courageous.”
Kirk Ward Robinson’s Founding Courage: Courage and Character in the United States of America is a compelling collection of stories profiling the courageous lives of many individuals who helped shape as well as influence America. The stories in this book are not just brief mentions of these individuals but engrossing biographical portraits showing the lives they lived that ultimately defined the stellar individuals they became. This book is highly recommended to fans of history and culture, as well as readers who enjoy learning about interesting people from history and just what kind of pivotal roles they played in creating change and inspiring courage.
The variety of individuals featured in this book will take readers through various aspects of history, where they will read about people who showed courage against a common enemy or a national threat. Both men and women have summoned their courage for change. The individuals featured in this book truly needed courage to stand up for what was right as well as to help others, and these stories show in remarkable detail how they summoned such courage in spite of any barriers they faced.
The title of this book includes the word “founding,” and it may cause one to think of our nation’s founding fathers. The father of our country, George Washington, was among them, and his was certainly a life of courage. So of course he belongs in this book, as readers of biographies about George Washington would be aware that his was a life bravely lived. Despite the obstacles he faced, he thrived both in military service and in politics. This chapter alone is an inspiration to read and echoes the importance of a life well-lived among those mentioned in this book who showed great courage in the face of danger.
While reading many of the stories in this book did not mean taking a deep dive into every life profiled, it would seem that the lifetime of some has been covered more in-depth. Take, for example, the chapter about Matthew Henson. Before reading this book, I had never heard of Henson, nor did I know of his accomplishments as an Arctic explorer. This was a very fascinating chapter to read, and I am grateful to the author for writing a chapter that almost reads like a brief biography of Henson.
I was truly impressed by the chapter about Rachel Carson, a person whom, up until the time I read this chapter, I knew only to be the author of Silent Spring. This chapter about her life and work was truly gratifying and educational. And the last chapter about Karen Silkwood, a woman I had never known about, was also a truly engaging read. Both chapters, one of a woman widely known and another of a woman not so widely known, were intriguing, informative, and engrossing. I could not stop reading these chapters, even though I had to on occasion due to responsibilities. But they completely held my interest.
In fact, all of the chapters in this book held my interest. From the unknown to the known, the famous to the not-so-famous, several people’s profiles of courage are recorded in this book. It was also interesting to read the author’s thoughts and ideas about what exactly defines “courage” and who among the many people throughout history were worthy of being called “courageous.”
Kirk Ward Robinson’s Founding Courage: Courage and Character in the United States of America is a compelling collection of stories profiling the courageous lives of many individuals who helped shape as well as influence America. The stories in this book are not just brief mentions of these individuals but engrossing biographical portraits showing the lives they lived that ultimately defined the stellar individuals they became. This book is highly recommended to fans of history and culture, as well as readers who enjoy learning about interesting people from history and just what kind of pivotal roles they played in creating change and inspiring courage.
December 3, 2025
Founding Courage: Courage and Character in the United States of America by Kirk Ward Robinson is a historical non-fiction book intended for an audience of readers age 12 and up. The book is split into two parts: the first part explores courage as a concept of what it is and acts of it, and the second part has seven chapters on seven different Americans who were historically courageous. Each American is from a different generation to offer a historical view from the founding of America onward. The seven Americans the author explores are George Washington, David Crockett, Robert Gould Shaw, Crazy Horse, Matthew Henson, Rachel Carson, and Karen Silkwood.
Opinion:
Founding Courage: Courage and Character in the United States of America by Kirk Ward Robinson grabbed my interest from the preface where the author explains that the idea of the book came to him on the Appalachian Trail with him looking for a way to cope with the horror of the attack that occurred on 9/11. To me, knowing the reason behind the book made it more emotionally impactful as I was able to understand the emotion behind the author’s exploration of courage.
I liked the way that the first section of the book focused on courage as a concept and acts of courage by everyday people like a father who faces down a shark to save his daughter, a man who had to amputate his own arm to save his life, and many more which showed the way a person can be courageous in a situation that is not historically significant. I found it inspiring as these were stories of people I had never heard of before and yet I could feel myself admiring them and being inspired by them.
The author did an amazing with how he made each chapter a biography on the person’s life covering the start of their life and childhood all the way to their act of courage. I liked the inclusion of an image of each person at the start of their chapter and how each chapter started slightly differently. For example, Karen Silkwood’s chapter began with her own message of how she had made mistakes whereas George Washington’s chapter began with: “How can I describe George Washington in a way that will make him real?” The different approach to each chapter kept each one feeling different and unique.
Overall, I found the book to be not only an inspirational read, but an educational one as while I knew about some of the historical figures like George Washington and Crazy Horse, there were also others I had not learned about like Rachel Carson and Karen Silkwood. In fact, the chapters on Rachel Carson and Karen Silkwood were my favorite with how the author explored strong courageous American women, not just men. I found myself truly learning about them as people and as women, not just as historical figures in a textbook.
Opinion:
Founding Courage: Courage and Character in the United States of America by Kirk Ward Robinson grabbed my interest from the preface where the author explains that the idea of the book came to him on the Appalachian Trail with him looking for a way to cope with the horror of the attack that occurred on 9/11. To me, knowing the reason behind the book made it more emotionally impactful as I was able to understand the emotion behind the author’s exploration of courage.
I liked the way that the first section of the book focused on courage as a concept and acts of courage by everyday people like a father who faces down a shark to save his daughter, a man who had to amputate his own arm to save his life, and many more which showed the way a person can be courageous in a situation that is not historically significant. I found it inspiring as these were stories of people I had never heard of before and yet I could feel myself admiring them and being inspired by them.
The author did an amazing with how he made each chapter a biography on the person’s life covering the start of their life and childhood all the way to their act of courage. I liked the inclusion of an image of each person at the start of their chapter and how each chapter started slightly differently. For example, Karen Silkwood’s chapter began with her own message of how she had made mistakes whereas George Washington’s chapter began with: “How can I describe George Washington in a way that will make him real?” The different approach to each chapter kept each one feeling different and unique.
Overall, I found the book to be not only an inspirational read, but an educational one as while I knew about some of the historical figures like George Washington and Crazy Horse, there were also others I had not learned about like Rachel Carson and Karen Silkwood. In fact, the chapters on Rachel Carson and Karen Silkwood were my favorite with how the author explored strong courageous American women, not just men. I found myself truly learning about them as people and as women, not just as historical figures in a textbook.
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