pFew of us spend much time thinking about courage, but we know it when we see it--or do we Is it best displayed by marching into danger, making the charge, or by resisting, enduring without complaint Is it physical or moral, or both Is it fearless, or does it involve subduing fear Abner Small, a Civil War soldier, was puzzled by what he called the mystery of bravery to him, courage and cowardice seemed strangely divorced from character and will. It is this mystery, just as puzzling in our day, that William Ian Miller unravels in this engrossing meditation. pMiller culls sources as varied as soldiers' memoirs, heroic and romantic literature, and philosophical discussions to get to the heart of courage--and to expose its role in generating the central anxieties of masculinity and manhood. He probes the link between courage and fear, and explores the connection between bravery and seemingly related states rashness, stubbornness, madness, cruelty, fury pride and fear of disgrace and the au