The Dangerous Book for Boys
by Conn Iggulden, Hal Iggulden
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Book Reviews of The Dangerous Book for Boys
Book Review: G. K. Chesterton on Boys
Summary: 5 Stars
What a marvelous idea for a book! It puts into action what G. K. Chesterton wrote in a 1906 magazine article:
*****
A child's instinct is almost perfect in the matter of fighting; a child always stands for the good militarism as against the bad. The child's hero is always the man or boy who defends himself suddenly and splendidly against aggression. The child's hero is never the man or boy who attempts by his mere personal force to extend his mere personal influence. In all boys' books, in all boys' conversation, the hero is one person and the bully the other. That combination of the hero and bully in one, which people now call the Strong Man or the Superman, would be simply unintelligible to any schoolboy....
But really to talk of this small human creature, who never picks up an umbrella without trying to use it as a sword, who will hardly read a book in which there is no fighting, who out of the Bible itself generally remembers the "bluggy" [bloody] parts, who never walks down the garden without imagining himself to be stuck all over with swords and daggers--to take this human creature and talk about the wickedness of teaching him to be military, seems rather a wild piece of humour. He has already not only the tradition of fighting, but a far manlier and more genial tradition of fighting than our own. No; I am not in favour of the child being taught militarism. I am in favour of the child teaching it.
****
And for those rainy days with mommy makes the young warrior stay indoors, get him wonderful, imaginative books such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn, and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, along with tales of exploration like those of Ernest Shackleton and the two brave young men in Across Asia on a Bicycle
--Michael W. Perry, Untangling Tolkien
Book Review: Saving Boys From Feminized Political Correctness.
Summary: 4 Stars
First, I would read this along with Christina Hoff Sommers book, "The War Against Boys." For the past 40 years feminized political correctness has been smothering the natural instincts & energies of young males. Now in the 21st century we act surprised when so many young men have grown up feeling like a cross between a castrated drone & a potted plant. What the authors address in fine detail is that most boys are aggressive, loud & are often prone to fighting. There is nothing evil about boys being boys. Their hunter/warrior mindset should be disciplined, not discarded. It has helped the human race survive to the present for good reason. Without our instinctive pursuit of a little danger, boys would become cowardly men & the evil few would rule over the majority.
The authors don't defend boys acting like savages, but being civilized does not mean you have to be self-repressed & hyper-sensitive. Life is full of hardships & everyone has to develop thicker skins & coping mechanisms. The authors want boys to be respectful, & honorable without losing their innate maleness. The book is a cross between the whole earth catalogue, the boy scout manual, the art of war, & a wide cross section of articles from various mens magazines. Parents, & mothers in particular may find this useful in understanding & thus, raising their sons better. To varying degrees girls may also find it useful in dealing with what they deem as perplexing male behaviors. The fact is that the differences between the sexes are what both confuse & attracts them to each other. As with adults, if they understand each others differences they realize they are there to balance & compliment one another. many may find this book to be a compendium of earlier works, which it may be? Nonetheless, it should prove refreshing & useful.
Book Review: A Trip Back to Your Youth and Great Opportunities to Connect with Sons, Nephews, and Grandsons
Summary: 5 Stars
Put together all of your cub scout and boy scout manuals, your favorite books about masculine activities, and your favorite memories about growing up as a boy, and you'll find them all somewhere in The Dangerous Book for Boys. In addition, you'll find answers to questions you've always wondered about . . . written at a boy's level of understanding.
As I read pages about tying knots, forming and launching paper airplanes, picking out a Swiss army knife, heat at the equator, making a bow and arrows, understanding grammar, making timers and tripwires, reading U.S. Naval flag codes, creating and decoding ciphers, forming crystals, learning to juggle, practicing first aid, star charts of constellations, and famous battles, I was once again eight years old. I didn't know it was possible, but my body felt smaller and suppler. I could remember where I'd first learned about all of those things, in many cases remembering what I hadn't thought of in decades.
As a connection to the younger generation, this book is marvelous because you can create a common territory beyond the borders of video games, MP3 files, and exotic sports. In addition, you can relate to you young friend or relative your own experiences in these areas, fields that young people don't know how to visit otherwise.
After you've looked at this book, I'm sure you'll agree with me that every boy deserves the chance to add this learning and these experiences to his boyhood.
I'm sure there will be another edition of this book someday. When it comes out, Mr. Iggulden, please do me a favor and include a section on the rules of cricket. I've never been able to completely follow that game. Then, you'll have made my second childhood perfect.
Book Review: Why Not Girls?
Summary: 2 Stars
When I flipped through this book at a brick-and-mortar bookstore lately, I was reminded of interests and activities from my childhood. The only problem is, I'm female.
I was interested in science, learning how to do things like use a magnifying glass to burn things (many melted Barbies were the result), and tying knots - something I learned as part of gaining a badge when I was a Brownie. Given this, as I stood in the bookstore I became increasingly depressed that this book was marketed and titled as solely one for boys. Why can't girls be interested in rough-and-tumble activities, as well? Although perhaps if this publisher put out a similar one for girls that reflected their ideas toward gender roles and behavior in children as this one does, it would merely teach things most girls learn in home ec and magazines, anyway - how to work needlepoint, cook, clean, and dress pretty. Apparently, the kind of "boyish," exploratory behavior described in this book, which is--let's face it--tantamount to misbehavior, is expected from boys only.
I wanted to like this book because it has all sorts of interesting (and yes, sometimes trouble-inducing) information for children, but its name, plus the fact that I'm learning that it teaches things such as how to kill, skin, and cook a rabbit (teaching children to harm small things is no way to raise them); along with claims from another reviewer that Christian indoctrination is a hidden goal of the book (I'm not claiming to know for sure whether this is true), are very upsetting.
Not a bad idea for a book, but can't they take out all the stuff about killing animals and being saved by Jesus, and re-market it as the dangerous book for the mischievous of both genders, and all ages?
Book Review: Things that everyone, not just boys, should know
Summary: 4 Stars
There was a time in the first half of the 20th century when Popular Mechanics, and other magazines of that ilk, published books of projects that the home enthusiast could build. Some were complex, such as building your own electric train The Boy Mechanic: 200 Classic Things to Build which envolves building your own electric motor. Others could be quite simple. They were however based on the theory that people should have the knowledge of how to build things.
Other companies and organizations published similar volumes which are also available in reprint editions: The Outdoor Handy Book : For Playground Field and Forest, American Girls Handy Book: How to Amuse Yourself and Others (Nonpareil Books). They were all geared to teach useful skills and to build self reliance in young people.
This volume and its more recent companionThe Daring Book for Girls hark back to that time. However, unlike those earlier volumes which primarily taught skills, this volume also provides short lessons in history. It endevors to provide youngsters with other forms knowledge in addition to mechanical skill and self reliance.
As for the "Dangerous" in the title (which many modern parents might find off-putting) I suspect, but do not know, that it possibly comes from the works of Alexander Pope who said, "A little learning is a dangerous thing."