From Chivalry to Terrorism: War and the Changing Nature of Masculinity

by Leo Braudy

Manliness has always been linked to physical prowess and to war; indeed the warrior has been the archetypal man across countless cultures throughout time. In this magisterial excursion through literature, history, warfare, and sociology, one of our most prominent scholars tracks the complex relationship between the changing methods and goals of warfare and shifting models of manhood. This journey takes us from the citizen soldiers of ancient Greece to the medieval knights to the misogynistic terrorists of Al Qaeda.

As he chronicles these transformations, Leo Braudy weighs the significance of everything from weapon technology to the hairstyles favored during different eras. He offers fresh insights on codes of war and codes of racial purity, and on cultural and historical figures from Socrates to Don Quixote to Napoleon to Custer to Rambo. Epic in scope and free of academic jargon, From Chivalry to Terrorism is a masterwork of scholarship that is both accessible and breathtakingly ambitious.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, Gender Studies, Gender, Military Fiction, Feminism

656 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Leo Braudy is among America's leading cultural historians and film critics. He currently is University Professor and Leo S. Bing Chair in English and American Literature at the University of Southern California. He lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books, where you learn something new in every single chapter.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm confused by reviews that claim this book is too general or not researched enough given this books huge length given that Braudy, an academic, has a 30 page bibliography. This book is an amazingly detailed exploration of how masculinity has evolved alongside war, primarily in the West, and provides insight into understanding contemporary masculinist hegemony in America. Braudy gestures outside Europe and the United at times, but in far less detail, so some readers may be less impressed with his work if their focus pertains to these regions. Braudy also touches on race, although I do think Braudy does not do enough with Black masculinities. Despite this light critiques, there is so much to admire in this culture history of masculinity and war in the West.

[Jerome · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great synthesis and summary of masculinity as it has evolved through the centuries.

[K]

I made it to all of page 60 before I accepted that Braudy's generalizations were never going to be well cited or well formed enough for me to trust his conclusions.

[Jim Dowdell]

The history of war is good and the new to me exposure to today’s sociology was very thought provoking, but I had to push down my anger at his feminist viewpoint to be able to finish this book. I wouldn’t have expected a book on masculinity to be so badly contaminated. This book gave me no new insight in actual male values but did show where some feminist vitriol comes from.
But the history of war and civilizations added to my worldview. My annotations include; government social engineering techniques, history of individualism and knights, propaganda, mass migrations, media control and boy scouts- so it was worthwhile pushing down the unpleasant perspective and slogging through this university textbook. I just pity the poor students subjected to these views in the University of South California where Leo Braudy teaches.