The Image of Man
The Creation of Modern Masculinity
the late George L. Mosse
Reviews and Awards
"A cogent, concise, and useful work that explores the historical development of contemporary masculinity."--The San Francisco Chronicle
"In a work combining synthesis and suggestion, Mosse boldly explores representations of manhood in Europe and...in the United States since the mid-eighteenth century....Mosse's reading of manhood is that great thing, a short book which provokes a long think."--The New Republic
"Provocative, insightful analysis."--Booklist
"In The Image of Man [Mosse] has produced a cogent, concise, and useful work that explores the historical development of contemporary masculinity....[The book is] both an insightful historical inquiry and a cautionary tale."--Michael Kimmel, San Francisco Chronicle
"[Mosse] makes a cogent case for the simultaneity of the rise of the bourgeoisie with the rise of the modern image of man, and hence the bourgeois nature of masculinity....[This book's] plethora of facts concerning modern European masculinity and male homosexuality will bolster the analyses of future writers. In particular, the book offers considerable insight into the contributions of German culture to Western constructions of sexuality and gender."--Lesbian and Gay Studies Newsletter
"Mosse...has immeasurably strengthened the position of those who believe that masculinity is socially constructed by showing who constructed it and how. His notion of the transcendent power of a visual symbol--a particular 'image of man'--is original and ingenious; he may well be right."--Journal of American History