Victoria's Cross

LONGLISTED FOR THE HESSELL TILTMAN PRIZE

When 25-year old Private Johnson Beharry won the Victoria Cross in 2005 for bravery under fire in Iraq, he was the first person to win Britains highest military honour since the Falklands war in 1982 and the first living recipient since 1969, when two Australians were given the award for action in Vietnam.

Born out of the squalor of the Crimean War in 1856 and the fragility of the monarchy at that time, the VCs prestige is such that it takes precedence over all other orders and medals in Britain. But while many books have been written about specific aspects of the VC and its recipients, none have asked why so many brave men who deserved the medal were denied it, and why no women have ever been awarded the VC, even though they are entitled.

Military historian Gary Meads vivid and balanced account of the VCs life and times exposes the hypocrisy behind one of the UKs last sacred cows, and explores its role as a barometer for the shifting sands of political and social change during the last 150 years.