Book Review: Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men

Stephen Mansfield’s book that describes itself a “an utterly invigorating guide to being your most masculine self” was a book I looked so forward to reading. At first, I was very thrilled by what the pages contained. Mansfield begins with his “Four Manly Maxims” that are important for men to hold. I agree with them wholeheartedly, and he illustrates his four points very well.

For the remainder of the text of the book–which is the bulk of the material–Mansfield then shares many traits that men need to have in their lives. Traits such as humility, humor, presence and many others fill the pages. Each chapter, then, uses a historical figure to illustrate that masculine trait and how it made a difference. In theory, it was a good idea. To my mind, though, this stretched the book a little far. The chapters are very uneven, both in length and in their strength. Personally, I think Mansfield tried to do too much in one book by covering all these areas in addition to the “manly maxims” that are in the first part.

Overall, the book has some great material for illustrations and quotations. It is obvious that Mansfield has done his homework in collecting materials for each of his chapters. I would have rather the book dug more in-depth into the “manly maxims,” and the multiple chapters on qualities been another book. Trying to do both watered down an otherwise good and very needed book.

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Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers (formerly Booksneeze), in exchange for an honest review. I am not required to give a positive review.