Senator John McCain learned about life and honor from his grandfather and father, both four-star admirals in the U.S. Navy. Both their careers and their courage helped prepare McCain for the biggest challenge of his life when, as a naval aviator, he was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and seriously injured. When his captors realized McCain's impressive military legacy, they offered him early release. In what has now become a legendary act of heroism, McCain refused the offer and was subsequently tortured, held in solitary confinement, and imprisoned for more than five years.

Faith of My Fathers is about what McCain learned from his father and grandfather, and how their example enabled him to survive. Told with humility, grace, and humor, it is a story of three imperfect men who faced adversity and emerged with their honor intact. It is a story to inspire and instruct, one that shows what fathers give to their sons, and what, ultimately, endures.

Amazon.com Review
Books by politicians are not often worth reading, but John McCain's Faith of My Fathers is an astonishing exception to the rule. The Republican senator from Arizona has a remarkable story to tell--better than just about any of his peers--and he tells it well, with crisp prose and an unexpected sense for narrative pacing. The first half of the book concerns his naval forbears: his grandfather commanded an aircraft carrier in the Second World War, while his father presided over all naval forces in the Pacific during the Vietnam War. They were the first father-son admirals in American history. Young John McCain knew he had enormous shoes to fill and rebelled against many of the expectations set for him. At the Naval Academy, he was nearly expelled, graduating fifth from the bottom of his class. He never became an admiral, but achieved fame another way: as a naval aviator in 1967, he was shot down over North Vietnam and spent several years in POW camps, where he was beaten, tortured, and nearly allowed to die. McCain describes the awful details of his imprisonment and tells how he stayed mentally strong during seemingly endless months of solitary confinement and how he communicated in code with fellow captives. Faith of My Fathers concludes with McCain's release and contains no information about his subsequent political career. It is, nonetheless, a complete and compelling memoir of individual heroism--one that will interest both political and military history buffs. --John J. Miller

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 216 reviews)

No Politics Here

No Politics Here, this is simply an autobiography of the man and his family. Overall I enjoyed it, and got through the book in a matter of days (which is more than I can say for "Audacity of hope"). Despite what people might say here, I came away with the impression of McCain as a main who has his flaws but has come to understand his flaws. I believe intellectual Honesty is one of the most important characteristic a person can develop. I believe he edited out most of the gratuitous aspect of his imprisonment, but one cannot leave without thanking the powers that it was me that was subjected to the punishment that McCain suffered, and for those naysayers and critics, I wonder how we would have performed in those circumstances. The Book is a little choppy in parts and drags a little in parts, but I had no problem with it, and am glad I read it before McCain's Political destiny is fulfilled, and we have to plow through the revisionist versions of his life.
October 06, 2008

POW

This is a good book for anyone wanting to know what happens in a POW camp.
October 06, 2008

Honor and Heroism Personified

If Sen. McCain weren't so humble on the campaign trail, and every American knew the story of his life as told in this book, he would be elected in a landslide. This man personifies honor.
October 06, 2008

Faith of my Fathers

I found this book so interesting that I had trouble putting it down. It is a true story of honor and three generations of men who truly love/loved our country. It is well written, documented, and very informative regarding true incidences in the McCain family.
Sincerely,
Gerald Graczyk
October 04, 2008

Misleading and inaccurate

According to the US Constitution, American presidents must be born in the USA. McCain fails this test, as he was born in Panama, which is a different country.
He fails the test in lots of other ways too. His recent failed attempt to get the Congress to vote for the $700 billion bankers' bail-out bill shows that: 1) he favours the rich against the majority of the American people; and 2) he can't even persuade his fellow-Republicans to support the bill.
And his party, and its policy of backing the bankers whatever, has been mainly responsible for the current economic crisis.
And if he were to die in office (after all, cancer-sufferers do often suffer relapses), Sarah Palin would become President.
October 03, 2008

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