Awarded for Valour: A History of the Victoria Cross and the Evolution of the British Concept of Heroism (Studies in Military and Strategic History)

This is the most thoughtful and well-researched monograph on the topic of the Victoria Cross that I have encountered. It fully explores the reasons for the creation of the award and then traces the shifts in criteria for awarding the medal from its inception to the present day. It analyses the reasons for awarding the VC at various points in history and critiques the various military branches' awards bureaus for their viewpoints and motives. The author has filled a significant gap in British military scholarship. Well done. (Full disclosure: I am the author) Awarded for Valour is a history of the Victoria Cross and an analysis of the changes wrought in the concept of heroism as warfare evolved between the 1850s and the present. The book opens with an examinantion of the concept of heroism as it existed in the mid-Victorian mind, looking primarily at literary depictions of the hero in poem and prose. It then moves into the circumstances that created the Victoria Cross, which it attributes to a combination of popular sentiment (desiring a recognition of British heroes like their French allies in the Crimea), political need (Lords Palmerston and Panmure needed to mend fences with the Queen) and a touch of royal vanity. Having established the baseline of heroism and created the Cross, the book then examines how the concept of heroism changed as warfare evolved. First there were teething problems as the War Office defined the institutional concept of heroism in dealing with the first rush of VC recommendations from the Crimea and the Great Mutiny. Certain parameters were established, chief of which was that the VC was an award for the living, not a memorial for the dead. Until the turn of the 20th century, soldiers killed in performing an act of heroism could not be recommended for the VC. Further refinements were made in the small wars of the late Victorian period, certain "test cases" that established a new interpretation of the regulations or extended eligibility to a new service branch. It pauses before the First World War to create a statistical abstract of the VC for the 19th century. This statistical abstract was created by examining the citation of each VC winner and categorizing the nature of the deed that won the award: Aggressive (taking the hill, breaching the gate, combat engineering), Defensive (holding at all costs), Life-saving (rescuing the wounded), or Symbolic (saving the colours, recovering a dead officer). Certain demographics of the winners were also categorized. This revealed a series of patterns in the Victorian concept of heroism, which are discussed in detail. The Great War was a watershed for many things, and among these was the VC. The Cross underwent a tremendous transformation as the Victorian ideals of warfare floundered to their death in Flanders Fields. Four chapters detail the changing nature of the institutional recognition of heroism, culminating in a complete revision of the governing warrant of the award in the wake of the Great War. A final chapter examines the VC under this new paradigm through the Second World War and the wars of the twilight of empire that followed. A similar statistical breakdown of the VC is performed for the 20th century and theses are advanced to explain the changes that took place. Extensive research at the Imperial War Museum, Public Record Office and National Army Museum and a wide variety of regimental archives and museums provides primary document evidence to support these theses. Chapters: Introduction 1: "I’ve Broken My Arm, Dick, But Never Mind Me Now:" The Hero in Victorian Popular Mythology 2: The Institutionalization of Heroism in Britain 3: Teething Problems, 1856 – 1867 4: Big Implications From Small Wars: The Imperial Vision of Heroism, 1860 – 1911 5: Fifty Years On: A Half-Century of Heroism 9: 1914: The last Stand of the Thin Red Line 7: The Middle Parts of Fortune: Heroism in Evolution, 1915 – 1916 8: "Courage Isn’t What it Used to be:" Heroism Emerges From the Great War 9: The Hero Comes Home From the War: The Institutionalization of Modern Heroism 10: Conclusion: The New Hero in Action, 1940 – 2006 Appendix Bibliography Data Tables: Table 5.1: Acts Winning the Victoria Cross, 19th Century: Winners per decade Table 5.2: Enlisted versus officer in life-saving VCs, 19th Century Table 5.3: The Cost of Courage: Casualties among 19th Century VC Winners per Decade Table 7.1: Acts winning the Victoria Cross, 1915: Winners by quarter Table 7.2: The Cost of Courage, 1915: Casualties per quarter Table 7.3: Acts winning the Victoria Cross, 1916: Winners by quarter Table 7.4: Breakdown of Crosses won, 1915 and 1916 by quarter Table 7.5: The Cost of Courage, 1916: Casualties per quarter Table 8.1: Acts winning the Victoria Cross, 1917: Winners by quarter Table 8.2: The Cost of Courage, 1917: Casualties per quarter Table 8.3: Acts winning the Victoria Cross, 1918: Winners by quarter Table 8.4: The Cost of courage, 1918: Casualties per quarter Table 10. 1: The Cost of Courage, World War II: Casualties per year Table 10.2: Acts winning the Victoria Cross, World War II: Winners per year Based on primary source research, this is the most comprehensive history of the Victoria Cross available, tracing the evolution of the award from its inception in 1856 to the most recent bestowals. The study also examines the evolution of the concept of heroism and how the definition of heroism changed along with the nature of warfare.$bThe Victoria Cross: the highest standard of valour. The exploits of its winners are the stuff of legend. But why was it instituted? What factors came together during the Crimean War to create this award? Since its inception 1,356 have been awarded, but the circumstances of warfare have changed wand with them the very concept of heroism has evolved. Awarded for Valour traces the evolution of this concept from its origins on the fields before Sevastopol, across the dashing campaigns of imperial expansion and defence, where the concept of heroism was a curious combination of the romantic and the pragmatic (all held in place with a stiff upper lip) and into the cauldron of the First World War, from which a very different concept of heroism arose Based on primary source research, this is the most comprehensive history of the Victoria Cross available, tracing the evolution of the award from its inception in 1856 to the most recent bestowals. The study also examines the evolution of the concept of heroism and how the definition of heroism changed along with the nature of warfare.$bThe Victoria Cross: the highest standard of valour

Based on primary source research, Awarded for Valour is the most comprehensive history of the Victoria Cross available, tracing the evolution of the award from its inception in 1856 to the most recent bestowals in the twenty-first century. The study examines the evolution of the concept of heroism as well, analyzing the nature of the acts that won the VC and how the definition of heroism changed along with the nature of warfare.