Fatherhood

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What to expect

An Economist, GQ and Times Book of the Year 2025

An ambitious history of masculinity and family, from the Bronze Age to the modern day, Fatherhood dares to offer a more caring and affirmative vision of the roles men currently play in society.

'Superbly intelligent . . . a rewarding Sapiens-style big history' - The Sunday Times

'A lightness of touch that recalls Bill Bryson or Craig Brown at their non-fiction best' - The Observer

What is fatherhood, and where did it come from? How has the role of men in families and society changed across thousands of years? What does the history of fatherhood reveal about what it means to be a dad today?

From the anxious philosophers of ancient Athens and Henry VIII’s obsessive quest for an heir, to Charles Darwin’s theories of human origins, Bob Dylan’s take down of ‘The Man’, and beyond, Sedgewick shows how successive generations of men have shaped our understanding of what it means to be and have a father, and in turn our ideas of who we are, where we come from and what we are capable of.

Critics Review

An invigorating, impressively researched and honest read. Anyone doing the work of dismantling and reframing the heavy role of the father will find something here
Raymond Antrobus, author of Signs, Music
An engrossing chronicle of fatherhood . . . studious research and literary agility makes Fatherhood a deeply fascinating and strikingly humane read.
The Observer
A winsome and erudite study of patriarchy . . . in elegant, evocative prose. Fatherhood is a fresh and insightful meditation on the paternal dilemma.
Publishers Weekly
Intelligent . . . The author is an undeniably talented prose stylist with estimable dot-connecting abilities.
Kirkus
'A richly absorbing piece of history embedded in a wealth of wonderful storytelling. A pleasure to read’ - Vivian Gornick, author of Fierce Attachments
Vivian Gornick, author of Fierce Attachments and The Odd Woman and the City
Absorbing, rigorous, and profoundly moving, Fatherhood is an exquisite narrative history that offers new ways of thinking about masculinity and the modern family
Kate Bolick, author of Spinster
Examines not only recent shifts, but the continuous process of change that runs through the centuries . . . a fascinating survey and a book with a particular relevance today.
Unseen Histories
Explains the surprising roots of our modern masculinity crisis.
GQ
Artfully examined . . . highly informative . . . Shows that the hidden truth of fatherhood and masculinity is that they are concepts we make and can be remade.
Financial Times

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