Until recent years the distinction between masculine and feminine behaviour was far more rigid that it is today, and men wielded much greater power. Yet behind the burning ambition to be a "real man" there were many anxieties, conflicts and contradictions. This book, which ties in with a BBC2 television series, explores six icons of masculine behaviour - the boy, rites of manhood, the soldier, the worker, the father, and the lover - and considers the realities behind them.