"Victorian Technology: Invention, Innovation, and the Rise of the Machine" captures the extraordinary surge of energy and invention that catapulted 19th-century England into the position of the world's first industrialized nation. It was an astonishing transformation, one that shaped and was shaped by the values of the Victorian era, and that laid the groundwork for the consumer-based society in which we currently live.

Filled with vivid details and fascinating insights into the impact of the Industrial Revolution on peoples' lives, "Victorian Technology" locates the forerunners of the...

In the classical Athens of Plato and Pericles, erotic relations between adolescents and adult men--what we now revile as pedophilia--was the marker of manliness; a clear example of how concepts of masculinity shift. Even within modern western society, there are conflicting ideals for men; they are expected to be both aggressive and unemotional in business, and sensitive and caring as a father and lover.

Masculine Identities: The History and Meanings of Manliness provides a comprehensive consideration of what "being a man" has meant over time. A fascinating read for men...