His Story: Masculinity in the Post-Patriarchal World (Llewellyn's Male Mysteries Series) [Paperback]

Nicholas R. Mann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 1995 | Series: Llewellyn's Male Mysteries Series

Take another look at what it means to be a man in the 20th century and beyond. By reviewing pre-patriarchal European history, you can find rich models of masculinity -- like Green Man, Wild Man, and the Horned God -- on which to base a new sense of yourself. Redefine your sexuality and spirituality in a way that is personally enriching and allows you to relate to other men, women and the world in positively powerful ways.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nicholas Mann (Southwestern U.S.) was born in Sussex, England, and received his BA with Honors in ancient history and social anthropology at London University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; 1st edition (October 8, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567184588
• ISBN-13: 978-1567184587
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,357,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Healing the Male Soul, June 15, 2002

By 

Frank MacEowen - See all my reviews

This review is from: His Story: Masculinity in the Post-Patriarchal World (Llewellyn's Male Mysteries Series) (Paperback)

I liked this book very much for the mere fact that Mann does not put on airs in this book, but is instead looking at modern ailments within the masculine psyche from a perennial earth-centered perspective. Unlike DRUID MAGIC, which I feel is partially a valiant attempt to explore Druidism but also one that has some glaring inaccurate representations, I thought HIS STORY was just the kind of writing we need to see getting turned out in the modern milieu--namely, the kind of writing that truly addresses the imbalances, wounds, habitual patterns, and fallacies of paradigms that have taken root in our contemporary society as a result of leaving an earth-centered spiritual cosmology behind. Mann approaches a number of positive male archetypes, as well as ways of revisioning a modern masculinity that is rooted in gentleness, strength, a sense of honoring the feminine within and without, and an overall spirit of alignment of the male soul with the soul of earth. I applaud this investigation, its general thesis, and its conclusions. Where Pagan, neo-Pagan, Druid, and neo-Druid writings interface with a deep-seated look at the psychology that shapes our world we have potential tools for addressing authentic change and this is one book that aspires to this.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His story cuts to the root of patriarchy, June 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: His Story: Masculinity in the Post-Patriarchal World (Llewellyn's Male Mysteries Series) (Paperback)

Anyone that reads His Story that has even a surface knowledge of anthro will connect with what mann is trying to convey. All of his references from other sources are verifiable and scholarly. Mann points out in his book that some of the restless felt by the white North American male is due to a scense of rootlessness with no conection to a deep past,ancient tradition,or native culture he can call his own. He also goes on to point out that the Patriarcle system that has been in place for thousands of years, made explicit in and sanctified by it's religions, forms the basis for the domination over everything of "lesser worth" (ie. native Americans, the environment,Women,) giving license to the frame of mind that the scarcest of something is the most valuble or powerful. And that things that are more "abundant" are of lesser worth. If you are not pro-equality between the sexes, the races, or religions of the world, this book is not for you.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help for Real Men to Recover from Abuses of Patriarchy, December 25, 2001

By 

"deneyael" (Lake Elsinore, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: His Story: Masculinity in the Post-Patriarchal World (Llewellyn's Male Mysteries Series) (Paperback)

This book puts into words what many men have felt for many years: Just about everything that men use to judge their worth is based on an artificial, unnatural ideal that puts one gender, one class, one society, one religion as the supreme power and all others are inferior or dangerous. It also helps answer the question, "Just how can a man BE a man in a world that is increasingly hostile towards masculinity?" Nicholas R. Mann exposes how men have, for millennia, been forced to believe that the only way men can BE men is to dominate others. He further shows how hierarchical structures, in religion, in politics, in business, and even in families, were designed to keep men believing they had to be in control in order to be favored by the ultimate authority, The Deity. The concept that few must have power over many is the root of the problem modern men face. This book provides new criteria that feel satisfying and natural.