Ordinary Courage
Ordinary Courage:
The Revolutionary War Adventures of Joseph Plumb Martin Reviewed by: Michael Axe 10-5-10 Ordinary courage is a book that tells the story of an ordinary man who is inlisted in the continental army in the revolutionary war. Joseph Plumb Martin is the young man fighting in this war, at the time he entered he was just a mere 16 year old kid but by the time his time in the continental army was up he became a man. This is a first person memoir of what it was like for a regular person living in a war zone, and dealing with the everyday fears of food shortage, low morale, and danger of attack. This is something that many people in todays world could not handle because even some of the old guys in the military now can handle it. How many sixteen year olds can you say have the maturity to handle this kind of pressure, this book did not glorify the war the way others usually do, the book showed the way the war really was it was brutal and ugly. The revolutionary war was the birth of the nation the same way that Joseph Martin grew up it was really the birth of a man. He grew up alongside the United States. The author wants to show how it was for an average soldier to fight in that particular war, and he is successful in doing so. He wants to strip away any illusions that the reader might have of the nature of war. He writes that he does not want to paint himself as anything like a hero, for he does not see himself as a hero. He sees the war as a terrible experience with suffering and not heroism as the main feature, and the way the story was written you can tell that the war was not glorified. Martin believes in the princibles and ideals that the war was based on, but he was determined to show that the war that was supposed to bring those ideals to reality was actually a very dirty and bloody war. This book would be an decent read for most, however if you are studying the revolutionary war then this would definently be a good
The Revolutionary War Adventures of Joseph Plumb Martin Reviewed by: Michael Axe 10-5-10 Ordinary courage is a book that tells the story of an ordinary man who is inlisted in the continental army in the revolutionary war. Joseph Plumb Martin is the young man fighting in this war, at the time he entered he was just a mere 16 year old kid but by the time his time in the continental army was up he became a man. This is a first person memoir of what it was like for a regular person living in a war zone, and dealing with the everyday fears of food shortage, low morale, and danger of attack. This is something that many people in todays world could not handle because even some of the old guys in the military now can handle it. How many sixteen year olds can you say have the maturity to handle this kind of pressure, this book did not glorify the war the way others usually do, the book showed the way the war really was it was brutal and ugly. The revolutionary war was the birth of the nation the same way that Joseph Martin grew up it was really the birth of a man. He grew up alongside the United States. The author wants to show how it was for an average soldier to fight in that particular war, and he is successful in doing so. He wants to strip away any illusions that the reader might have of the nature of war. He writes that he does not want to paint himself as anything like a hero, for he does not see himself as a hero. He sees the war as a terrible experience with suffering and not heroism as the main feature, and the way the story was written you can tell that the war was not glorified. Martin believes in the princibles and ideals that the war was based on, but he was determined to show that the war that was supposed to bring those ideals to reality was actually a very dirty and bloody war. This book would be an decent read for most, however if you are studying the revolutionary war then this would definently be a good
Bibliography: Johns, Lloyd. "Joseph Plumb Martin Ordinary Courage: The Revolutionary War Adventures Of Joseph Plumb Martin." article alley. 5 Feb. 2006. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. <http://www.articlealley.com/article_27551_50.html>. Jones , Grant W. "Ordinary Courage: The Revolutionary War Adventures Of Joseph Plumb Martin." Michigan War Studies Review. 5 Jan. 2009. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. <http://www.michiganwarstudiesreview.com/2009/20090105.asp>. Martin, James K. Ordinary Courage: The Revolutionary War Adventures Of Joseph Plumb Martin. 3rd. Blackwell Publishers, 2008. Print.