A debut author profiles unheralded defenders of American democracy in this nonfiction anthology.

“In every era of American life, there have been individuals whose quiet courage reshaped the country,” writes Nouvel, adding that they accomplished meaningful change “not with speeches or titles, but through decisive acts of conscience.” As the first book in a planned multivolume Quiet Valor series, this anthology briefly profiles 15 figures whose actions, in the author’s opinion, made the country a better place. The book opens with Harry W. Colmery, an American attorney and former head of the American Legion who wrote the G.I. Bill in 1944, which “shaped a generation,” Nouvel says, by providing housing, education, and other benefits to millions of World War II veterans. Not only did Colmery defy partisan politics as a Republican who worked closely with a Democratic presidential administration, but his example, per the author, offers an alternative form of patriotism that defies cheap “slogans.” This opening chapter sets the tone for the rest of the book, which include portraits of Jonas Salk, who famously chose not to patent his polio vaccine, and Mychal Judge, who offered aid and prayers to victims of the 9/11 attacks before being killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center’s South Tower. Other profiles present figures of the civil rights or gay rights movements. Claudette Colvin, for instance, refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus in 1955, prior to Rosa Parks’ better-known protest, and Frank Kameny sued the U.S. Civil Service Commission after he was fired in 1958 because of his sexual orientation.

Overall, the book highlights people who “lived on the margins of power” and represent the diversity of American men and women throughout history. This emphasis on inclusivity makes for a welcoming work that’s relentlessly optimistic in its belief in the power of ordinary people to make substantive change. The author also explicitly challenges the “Great Man Theory” of history that privileges those in positions of power. The anthology does, however, lean toward hagiography. Its survey of the G.I. Bill, for example, doesn’t address the belief among many contemporary historians that the legislation widened the economic gap between white and Black families. Also, although each chapter features research-based endnotes alongside a bibliography of suggested readings, the book’s brevity (at less than 180 total pages) allows for only a brief recap of each individual’s achievements. The fact that the book was written with the assistance of ChatGPT will give readers pause, as well. The work would have benefited from a stronger edit, overall; activist Bayard Rustin’s name, for instance, appears as “Baynard” at various intervals. Nevertheless, the text offers a timely reminder that the “forces that sustain democracy” too often go unnoticed, particularly in an era defined by “headlines, spectacle, and division.”

A collection of inspirational, if often superficial, biographical sketches of lesser-known American heroes.