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Taking Courage: A New Look at an Old American Virtue
Not yet published
Expected 17 Nov 26Demonstrating a deep understanding of literature and history, Elizabeth Samet reveals the way that courage has long anchored America’s collective thought and explores its power to illuminate the path to a unified future.
Courage has long been a favorite theme of philosophers, generals, and poets alike. A fundamental virtue since ancient times, courage is perhaps most readily identified with military exploits. But what does courage mean beyond the battlefield? And what do traditional ideals of bravery, dedication, and self-sacrifice look like in our daily lives today? These are among the questions Elizabeth Samet asks in this original and deeply stirring work of criticism that rediscovers courage for a polarized age.
Like many Americans, Samet first learned about courage from the World War II watching war movies with her father, a veteran of that war, and reading stories of physical feats and derring-do. But as an educator of cadets at West Point she began to formulate a deeper understanding of courage as she tried to explain it to herself and her students by studying literature, film, culture, history, and the physical monuments that dominate the landscape in which they work. Providing the necessary reminder that true courage is sustained by knowledge and judgment, Samet argues that this virtue lies at the heart of democracy. It is the audacity to work toward a better future in a world characterized by technological revolution, social and economic upheaval, and persistent conflict.
Through anecdote and analysis, Taking Courage draws throughlines from the classroom to the world beyond, from Virgil’s Aeneid to the Marvel Universe, from the conversations between the great French film director Jean Renoir and his father, the Impressionist master Pierre-Auguste, to the brilliant and undervalued fiction of the Austro-Hungarian Joseph Roth. Using spirited interactions with her students as a springboard, Samet paves the way toward a more unified future by advocating for a new understanding of courage, one that is recognized by boldness, curiosity, and humor as much as by physical valor. 1 illustration
Courage has long been a favorite theme of philosophers, generals, and poets alike. A fundamental virtue since ancient times, courage is perhaps most readily identified with military exploits. But what does courage mean beyond the battlefield? And what do traditional ideals of bravery, dedication, and self-sacrifice look like in our daily lives today? These are among the questions Elizabeth Samet asks in this original and deeply stirring work of criticism that rediscovers courage for a polarized age.
Like many Americans, Samet first learned about courage from the World War II watching war movies with her father, a veteran of that war, and reading stories of physical feats and derring-do. But as an educator of cadets at West Point she began to formulate a deeper understanding of courage as she tried to explain it to herself and her students by studying literature, film, culture, history, and the physical monuments that dominate the landscape in which they work. Providing the necessary reminder that true courage is sustained by knowledge and judgment, Samet argues that this virtue lies at the heart of democracy. It is the audacity to work toward a better future in a world characterized by technological revolution, social and economic upheaval, and persistent conflict.
Through anecdote and analysis, Taking Courage draws throughlines from the classroom to the world beyond, from Virgil’s Aeneid to the Marvel Universe, from the conversations between the great French film director Jean Renoir and his father, the Impressionist master Pierre-Auguste, to the brilliant and undervalued fiction of the Austro-Hungarian Joseph Roth. Using spirited interactions with her students as a springboard, Samet paves the way toward a more unified future by advocating for a new understanding of courage, one that is recognized by boldness, curiosity, and humor as much as by physical valor. 1 illustration
- GenresHistory
144 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication November 17, 2026
About the author
Elizabeth D. Samet
12 books44 followersElizabeth D. Samet received her BA from Harvard and her PhD in English literature from Yale. She is the author of Willing Obedience: Citizens, Soldiers, and the Progress of Consent in America, 1776–1898 and Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature through Peace and War at West Point. Samet has been an English professor at West Point for ten years.
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Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This is a bit of an enigmatic book. Written by an English professor at West Point, it probes the virtue of "courage" through military history, ancient mythology, old Western movies, pop culture, and more. Samet asks the reader to question the urge to value heroic physical courage over moral, intellectual, and other quieter acts of courage. Without providing any firm answers, she raises many questions about the value of courage and lets you sit with them to draw your own conclusions.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review