Masculine assertions, whether of verbal command, political power or physical violence, have formed the traditional subject matter of history. This volume combines current discussions in sexual politics with historical analysis to demonstrate that, far from being natural and monolithic, masculinity is an historical and cultural construct, with varied, competing and above all changing forms.
1 INTRODUCTION, Historians and the politics of masculinity 2 STRENUOUS IDLENESS Thomas Carlyle and the man of letters as hero 3 DOMESTICITY AND MANLINESS IN THE VICTORIAN MIDDLE CLASS The family of Edward White Benson 4 MASCULINITY AND THE 'REPRESENTATIVE ARTISAN' IN BRITAIN, 1850-80 5 'I LIVE BUT NOT YET I FOR CHRIST LIVETH IN ME' Men and masculinity in the Salvation Army, 1865-90, 6 THE BLOND BEDOUIN Lawrence of Arabia, imperial adventure and the imagining of English-British masculinity 7 KNOWING YOUR PLACE The tensions of manliness in boys' story papers, 1918-8 MUMMY, MATRON AND THE MAIDS Feminine presence and absence in male institutions, 1934-63, 9 YESTERDAY'S MODEL Product fetishism and the British company man, 1945-85.
