Books about Bravery and Courage
When the world is full of despair, it’s easy to become weighed down by anger, despondency and helplessness. The future can seem incredibly bleak. I think this is a time when we can find solace in books, not to ignore what’s going on, but to remind us that there is more good than bad in the world, and of the incredible depths of strength that humans have. Here are some inspiring books about bravery and courage.
Viktor E. Frankl - Man’s search for meaning
I first came across this book during an episode of the excellent ‘Blindboy’ podcast. It was another of those lockdown books that helped me reassess my life and the direction I was going in.
This is a short but extraordinary book. Already practising as a psychiatrist before he was deported to the concentration camps, Frankl survives four of them but loses his wife, parents and brother. The book is divided into two parts - his experiences in the death camps and how they influenced his theories, in particular how a human could survive and endure these conditions. and the second part where he expounds on what he calls logotherapy. In short, his theory is that the primary purpose of life is man's search for meaning, which can be found from three sources - Purposeful work, love, and courage in the face of suffering.
"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way"
The forgotten highlander – Alistair Urquhat
Incredible story of Alistair Urquhrat, a soldier in the Gordon Highlanders who was captured by the Japanese in Singapore. He worked on the bridge on the river Kwai for two years as a slave, suffering malaria, dysentery, beri-beri and tropical infected skin ulcers, existing on a cup of water and a bowl of rice a day,
After this he surived 5 days alone in the South China sea after the Japanese hellship he was on was torpedoed. After being rescued by a whaling ship, he was taken to Japan and put to work in a mine near Nagasaki, and we all know what happened there.
Not only is it remarkable that he survived, but that he was mentally able to tell this tale. What’s particularly moving is his account of adjusting when he returned home, and settling into ‘normal’ life again.
Parts of this book are barbaric and almost beyond comprehension but it’s an inspirational story that had to be told. Despite reading this book almost seven years ago, parts of it have stuck with me, and it’s definitely one of the best books about bravery and courage I’ve read.
As far as my feet will carry me - Josef M. Bauer
This is the story of Clemens Forrell, a German soldier in Russia after the end of WWII, who finds himself sentenced to 25 years forced labour in a lead mine in the frozen eastern wasteland of Siberia. Deciding he could no longer withstand the brutality of camp and the bitter cold, he escapes. What follows is the most incredible journey of 8,000 miles over three years mostly by foot across one of the most hazardous and dangerous landscapes on the planet. Outlaws, bears, deer and Wolves – he encounters them all.
He also finds human kindness along the way, but as he lives in constant fear of being captured and returned back to the camp, he avoids human settlements where possible. This is an incredible testament to the strength of the human spirit to survive and endure, no matter what. One of the most incredible books about bravery and courage you could read.
The Fear of 13: Countdown to Execution: My Fight for Survival on Death Row
There is a Netflix documentary of the same name but it was the book where I first encountered the story of Nick Yarris.
After being found guilty of rape and murder of a woman he had never met, Yarris is sentenced to death. For the next 22 years he protests his innocence and finds that appeal after appeal is denied him.
Of course this is another damning indictment of the the American justice system, and yet another account of its repeated failings. This is one man’s story- you can only imagine how many innocent people have been imprisoned and executed.
But what came across to me in this book was the resilience and fortitude of Yarris himself.
He’s a skilled writer and his description of prison life and fellow inmates is done in great detail. What’s more impressive was Yarris’s ability to actually flourish – he’s the proverbial flower growing out of concrete. This experience would have broken most people but Yarris shows incredible strength in the face of beatings, cruelty and grief. An inspirational book about courage.
Educated - Tara Westover
This is the memoir of a young woman’s upbringing in a Mormon fundamentalist survivialist family in Idaho. She not only survives in terms of physical injuries in her families scrapyard, but also the from violence and psychological abuse, in this bestselling book about courage.
Tara Westover suffers at the hands of an older brother but her parents ignore the abuse. Her father believed Armageddon was coming and that there should be no interaction with health or educational services, so despite not setting foot in a classroom until she was 17, Westover manages to escape this life and later studies for a Phd at Cambridge Universtiy.
Westover writes so well about the trauma she suffered and bears no ill towards her father. It takes incredible courage for her to face down her family and then question everything she has been brought up to believe. This is a book not only about human strength and survival but also about self discovery, this is one of the best bookclub books about bravery and courage you could pick.
The Diving bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominque Bauby
In December 1996, Jean-Dominique Bauby suffers a massive stroke, and finds himself paralysed and speechless, but still conscious. He has what is called ‘Locked-in Syndrome’ and the only part of his body that he can move is his left eye. Bauby, a father of two, was a respected editor of the French magazine ‘Elle’ and what happens next is remarkable – he uses his left eye, painstakingly and with excruciating slowness, to dictate this book. Rather than being crushed by his condition, what emerges is an incredibly awe inspiring memoir, full of momments of beauty. A testament to the incredible strength of the human spirit, this is why I’ve included it on a list of books about bravery and courage.
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
I recently read and reviewed this book which is about Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon who is approaching the end of his decade long training when he discovers that he has lung cancer. As well as continuing with his practice for as long as he can, he does something else - he writes a book.
I found this a great book about courage because Kalanithi writes without pity and always with integrity and honesty, painfully so at times. He’s constantly searching for meaning in his life and it’s particularly illuminating on the subject of death. It definitely relates to sources of meaning in the first book on this list by Viktor Frankl- -Purposeful work, love, and courage in the face of suffering. A brave book by a courageous author, this is an eloquent and moving account of illness and death.
Madhouse at the end of the Earth by Julian Sancton
In 1898 the Belgica set off on a three year polar expedition to the Antarctic. It became the first ship to winter in the region, in a survival story about illness, endurance and inventiveness.
This is a great book on courage because of the dangers that the crew face and overcome. From the lack of food, scurvy, madness and death itself. Some of the crew aren’t so lucky, but the fact that the majority of the them survive is testament to their bravery and determination.