A historical analysis of the courageous military acts denied the highest award from the British honours system. The Victoria Cross is the most exclusive and prestigious of all gallantry awards. In order to retain this exclusivity, the standard of courage, endeavor or sacrifice required for a recommendation to be accepted for the award of the VC must be of the highest possible order. This has meant that many extremely courageous acts have failed to be rewarded with the VC, even though they appear to be just as remarkable in the level of danger and daring as some of those which were accepted for the medal. The reason for this, is that the awarding of the VC, indeed even the acknowledgment from a commanding officer that an individual’s action merits submission to the selection board, is entirely subjective. What one general might consider to be of exceptional valor might be regarded by another senior officer as merely a soldier carrying out his duty. When Trooper Clement Roberts rode into the thick of battle in South Africa to rescue a young war reporter who had been thrown from his horse, little did he know that he was saving the life of Britain’s future wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. Recommended for the VC, Roberts was eventually awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Similarly, following the airborne operation at Arnhem in the Second World War, Captain Michael Dauncey was recommended by three other officers for the award of the Victoria Cross. These appeals, however, were rejected. The reasons behind the failure to award Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Mayne, a member of 1st SAS Regiment, the VC, despite repeated calls for his actions to be recognized in such a manner, was the subject of an Early Day Motion put before the House of Commons as recently as June 2005. In this revealing and unique analysis of actions that did not result in the award of the VC, despite recommendations to this effect, Brian Best has highlighted the uneven decisions made throughout the decades and in campaigns around the globe, that led to some men becoming national heroes and others, equally courageous, being merely footnotes in history. Praise for Unrewarded Courage “There have been plenty of books about the Victoria Cross and the men who were awarded them, but this is the first, I think, about acts of bravery and valour that apparently did not merit the award. Absolutely brilliant.” —Books Monthly (UK)

" ... This is not an attempt to write a complete history of the aerial war, or to record all the wonderful and brave deeds of our airmen. A book that would include all these would be valuable as a work of reference, but it would be essentially different from the aim of this small effort. A certain number of the incidents here related have been toldelsewhere, and in some cases there has been no need to go beyond the official reports. Some have been published for the first time, and to some I have been able to add hitherto unpublished details ..."--The Preface, page vi

In this book Larry Harwood situates and evaluates Bertrand Russell’s thought on religion within the context of Russell’s biography. His well-known animus toward religious belief is highlighted and maintained without neglecting his quieter and comparatively unknown quest for something religious. The book argues that while Russell’s critique of religious belief is not unlike that of other thinkers, his superlative prose, extraordinary skill with words, and candor gave him an advantage and audiences beyond competing secular thinkers. Harwood argues that among secularists few have been as vehemently critical of religious belief and believers as Russell, while even fewer have displayed his appetite for some religious truth. The author presses these two antipodes in Russell’s mind to provide a holistic picture of the life and thought of arguably the greatest philosopher of the twentieth century. By the conclusion of this study, the reader has witnessed Russell as not only a petulant and abiding critic of religious belief, but also as a thinker who has “carried the burden of God.”

This, unlike most of Margaret Irwin's books, is not an historical novel. It is a peep-show at recent times, so fantastically gay that this, our London, appears as the iridescent scene of a pantomime or holiday charade. What happened behind the door at which one had to knock four times? Many wildly incongruous happenings, but chiefly an attack on other doors, the 'everlasting doors' of Prince's Gate, Queen's Gate, Emperor's Gate, to make them open wide to the rash young adventurer Dicky who had once gatecrashed them, but was resolved to 'spurn Kensington, march on Mayfair,' and conquer both the New World and the Old. How Dicky fought his way to fortune, and how Celia fought hers to freedom from behind the Gates of Kensington, by knocking four times on Dicky's door, is told in this story, which dances along as irresponsibly as a soap bubble against its brilliantly realized background, shading from the raffish to the respectable. For all its laughter and absurd situations, it is marked with the humorous sympathy and integrity that have distinguished all Margaret Irwin's work.

Horatio Nelson was a hero from the time when his dramatic initiative won the battle of St Vincent in 1797, while his last battle, at Trafalgar, reduced the enemy naval forces so thoroughly that they were no longer able to have any bearing on the outcome of the war. As well as being a brilliant study of those naval battles which played such an important role in Napoleon's defeat, it also makes a close study of the admiral's art which, during the last years of the eighteenth century, developed faster than at any time since the previous century and led to Britain's mastery of the seas for more than 100 years. The Seven Years War and the War of the American Revolution stimulated the development of new ideas and the experience gained from them, as well as the developments in ship design and signalling, and the perfection of drill, transformed naval methods. Nelson became a master of them all. This technical prowess, combined with a remarkable ability to lead his men and his genius for making decisive moves, 'the Nelson touch', made him the consummate master of naval warfare. Highly readable, concise and insightful, this new edition will prove a popular choice for those seeking an introduction to naval warfare in the age of sail

Remarkable, mischievous, inspiring—the eighty-odd stories in Small Acts of Resistance bring hidden histories to life. The courage of the people in these stories is breathtaking. So, too, is the impact and imagination of their actions.These mostly little known stories—including those written from eyewitness experience of the events and situations described—reveal the role ordinary people have played in achieving extraordinary change. “In the real world, it will never happen,” the skeptics love to tell us. As this book so vividly shows, the skeptics have repeatedly been proven wrong.Stories in this include how:· Strollers, toilet paper, and illegal ketchup helped end forty years of one-party Communist rule· Dogs (and what they wore) helped protestors humiliate a murderous regime· Internet videos about cuddly animals infuriated a repressive government which tried—and failed—to ban the craze· Football crowds found ways of singing the national anthem so as to defy a junta of torturers, now in jail· Women successfully put pressure on warlords to end one of Africa’s bloodiest wars· The singing of old folksongs hastened the collapse of an empire sustained by tanksIf you think individuals are powerless to change the world, read this remarkable book and you’ll surely change your mind.

Presenting the background and history of the war in Aceh, Matt Davies investigates the domestic and regional implications, and common misunderstanding surrounding its various issues.