Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A provocative look at how cowardice has been understood from ancient times to the present

Coward. It's a grave insult, likely to provoke anger, shame, even violence. But what exactly is cowardice? When terrorists are called cowards, does it mean the same as when the term is applied to soldiers? And what, if anything, does cowardice have to do with the rest of us? Bringing together sources from court-martial cases to literary and film classics such as Dante's Inferno , The Red Badge of Courage, and The Thin Red Line, Cowardice recounts the great harm that both cowards and the fear of seeming cowardly have done, and traces the idea of cowardice's power to its evolutionary roots. But Chris Walsh also shows that this power has faded, most dramatically on the battlefield. Misconduct that earlier might have been punished as cowardice has more recently often been treated medically, as an adverse reaction to trauma, and Walsh explores a parallel therapeutic shift that reaches beyond war, into the realms of politics, crime, philosophy, religion, and love.

Yet, as Walsh indicates, the therapeutic has not altogether triumphed--contempt for cowardice endures, and he argues that such contempt can be a good thing. Courage attracts much more of our attention, but rigorously understanding cowardice may be more morally useful, for it requires us to think critically about our duties and our fears, and it helps us to act ethically when fear and duty conflict.

Richly illustrated and filled with fascinating stories and insights, Cowardice is the first sustained analysis of a neglected but profound and pervasive feature of human experience.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. 1)
• Chapter 1 Profiles in Cowardice: A Shadow History of the Home of the Brave (p. 23)
• Chapter 2 Of Arms and Men (p. 45)
• Chapter 3 The Ways of Excessive Fear (p. 77)
• Chapter 4 Duty-Bound (p. 100)
• Chapter 5 The Rise of the Therapeutic (p. 131)
• Chapter 6 So Long a File: Cowardice Away from War (p. 165)
• Acknowledgments (p. 195)
• Notes (p. 199)
• Bibliography (p. 249)
• Illustration Credits (p. 277)
• Index (p. 281)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Unpacking what different emotions mean--establishing, for instance, why shame is not guilt--is important and fascinating. As an emotion, cowardice has been neglected, making this elegant, rich, high-powered book particularly welcome. The basic definition of a coward is someone who, because of excessive fear, fails to do what he or she is supposed to do. However, Walsh (English, Boston Univ.) shows great subtlety when noting the loose edges of this definition, notably when distinguishing cowardice from recklessness, which is at times the result of calling someone a coward. Walsh adds historical sociology to conceptual analysis. The present "therapeutic" world is prone to excuse, not altogether wrongly, various supposed derelictions of duty on the grounds that the pressures involved, especially in warfare, are sometimes more than the human frame can stand. But Walsh does not suggest that the word cowardice be abandoned. He points out that diminution in its use may be appropriate in the context of warfare, but cowardice is often present in daily civilian life, in the failure to act, to seize the best chances one has for fear of failure. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --John A. Hall, McGill University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Chris Walsh is associate director of the College of Arts and Sciences Writing Program at Boston University.