Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus's Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior -- James B. Stockdale, Paperback
In September 1965, US Navy pilot James Bond Stockdale was shot down over North Vietnam and became a prisoner of war. What followed was an eight-year test of ancient Stoic philosophy under the most extreme conditions imaginable.
Courage Under Fire is Stockdale's account of how the teachings of the Greek philosopher Epictetus--a former slave who had known suffering--sustained him as he led his fellow prisoners through systematic torture, years of solitary confinement, and psychological warfare designed to break their will.
Introduced to Stoicism as a graduate student at Stanford University, Stockdale brought its lessons to the "Hanoi Hilton" and its hundreds of POWs as a manual for survival under extreme pressure. Epictetus taught that although we cannot control external events, we maintain absolute power over our judgments, opinions, and will.
- This rare firsthand account from the highest-ranking officer held in the Hanoi prison system demonstrates leadership in impossible circumstances.
- Stockdale shows how he and his fellow prisoners developed clandestine communications and resistance tactics, and how he convinced men to accept further torture rather than compromise their principles.
- Stockdale provides timeless wisdom on resilience, dignity, and maintaining one's humanity in the face of systematic cruelty.
Written by a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Courage Under Fire bridges ancient wisdom and modern crisis. Originally delivered in 1993 as a lecture at King's College, London, it remains the definitive account of Stoicism tested in what Stockdale called his "laboratory of human behavior."
Author: James B. Stockdale
Publisher: Hoover Institution Press
Published: 12/1/1993
Pages: 32
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.12 lbs
Size: 9.08" H x 6.02" L x 0.09" W
ISBN: 9780817936921
