The Free and the Brave

by John Cornwell

When Pearl Harbor was bombed, young George Kelly decided to join the Navy. Or rather, it was decided for him -- it was either that or go to jail for a minor offense. Kelly dreamed of becoming a flyer, but was posted instead aboard the ancient destroyer Goddard, a floating wreck whose captain and crew seemed as disreputable as their ship. . . . Kelly had gone into the war as a boy. If he survived, he'd come out of it a man.

319 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1978

About the author

John Cornwell is a British journalist, author, and academic. Since 1990 he has directed the Science and Human Dimension Project at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he is also, since 2009, Founder and Director of the Rustat Conferences. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters (University of Leicester) in 2011. He was nominated for the PEN/Ackerley Prize for best UK memoir 2007 (Seminary Boy) and shortlisted Specialist Journalist of the Year (science, medicine in Sunday Times Magazine), British Press Awards 2006. He won the Scientific and Medical Network Book of the Year Award for Hitler's Scientists, 2005; and received the Independent Television Authority - Tablet Award for contributions to religious journalism (1994). In 1982 he won the Gold Dagger Award Non-Fiction (1982) for Earth to Earth. He is best known for his investigative journalism; memoir; and his work in public understanding of science. In addition to his books on the relationship between science, ethics and the humanities, he has written widely on the Catholic Church and the modern papacy.