This book] presents an innovative series of studies in the cultural and social history of nineteenth-century Britain. The book documents the rapid emergence of a new and increasingly important field., and takes forward the definition o of this new field. [The author] addresses big issues of theory and periodisation, exploring relationship between masculinity and patriarchy, and between men's public role and their emotional and domestic lives. These insights inform his ... treatment of the history of the Victorian family. In the final section of the book, [the author] re-examines some of the major themes of British imperial history, arguing that the empire needs to be seen as a specifically male enterprise answering to masculine aspirations and insecurities ... This book is essential reading for students, teachers and researchers in the history of the family and of the Biritsh, as well as gender studies.-Back cover.;Agendas: Making of manhood and the uses of history; What should historians do with masculinity: Reflections on nineteenth-century Britain -- Changing masculinities: Old Adam and the new man, emerging themes in the history of English masculinities, 1750-1850; Gentlemanly politeness and manly simplicity in Victorian England; Middle-class masculinities in the era of the women's suffrage movement, 1860-1914 -- Family: Authority and nurture in middle-class fatherhood, the case of early and mid-Victorian England; Methodist domesticity and middle-class masculinity in nineteenth century England -- Empire: All the masculine voices, English emigration to the colonies, 1815-1852; Manliness, masculinities and the new imperialism, 1880-1900.