The Society of Timid Souls, by Polly Morland - review

In this book about courage, Polly Morland talks to lots of people who should know what it is. She talks to soldiers, surfers, a matador, firefighters and professional daredevils. She interviews a man who fixes the upper sections of skyscrapers, and is afraid of heights. She meets people who have been diagnosed with terminal diseases. She quizzes a former armed robber. It’s well worth reading. Morland is slightly more humanistic than scientific; she wonders what courage is, without being absolutely determined to come up with a definition.

I started the book thinking that courage is the ability to do something you think is right, even when you’re scared. It means not wavering from your core beliefs, or feelings, when things get difficult or dangerous. Think of the word core. Think of the French word coeur. It’s all about heart, about solidity, about being firm and steadfast. When you think about it like this, it seems to be a rather conservative thing; it even has something in common with being stubborn. Of course, being stubborn is a good thing, if you’re right.

Morland interviews Colonel Tim Collins, famous for the eve-of-battle speech he gave British troops in Iraq in 2003. He says that, before you go into battle, you close certain doors in your mind. Then, when you come back, it’s not easy to open them again. Which suggests that, in one sense, you can learn how to be brave — you can, as it were, pre-set your controls. So when the crucial moment arrives, when you need courage, it’s already there; it’s not a matter of girding your loins against novel terror, but more like following a programme. Perhaps the moment of courage happens while you are pre-setting your controls; this is where the real sacrifice occurs.