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Courage Rewarded
The Valour of Canadian Soldiers Under Fire 1900-2007

by T. Robert Fowler,
published by Trafford Publishing, 2008.


Courage Rewarded deals with a subject not been well covered before - the question of what is "courage in battle" - and examines how this quality was shown by Canadian soldiers from the South African War to Afghanistan in 2007. Chapters are devoted to the battles of the South African War, the First World War, the Russian Interventions of 1918-19, the Second World War and the Korean War, showing how weapons and tactics evolved and how this affected the courage needed by the soldier under fire. .
Courage Rewarded does not proceed by presenting a large collection of citations but analyzes the meaning of courage using a wide variety of sources ranging from psychology, philosophy and, to the extent practical, memoirs by Canadian soldiers. In addition, each chapter attempts to show how courage was affected by changes in military technology in that era.

Finally, each chapter in Courage Rewarded describes the development of the British system of honours and awards in the related time period and how it affected awards made to Canadian soldiers. This includes a full analysis for each time period for awards of the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service Order, the Military Cross, the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal. As a result, this book is in effect the most complete history yet of gallantry awards to Canadians.

With the first of the new Canadian decorations of military valour awarded in 2007, this era of British awards has ended and a new one begun.

View other books by T.Robert Fowler about Canadian soldiers who have been awarded gallantry decorations.

(See T. Robert Fowler's blog for current thoughts on his book and courage)