In Search of Mary Seacole: a ‘wonderfully informative’ biography
Helen Rappaport sets out to bring ‘clarity to Seacole’s life’

In this “forceful and rather unusual” book, Nina Power contends that a “war on men” is being waged in many Western countries, said Jay Elwes in The Spectator. Men, the philosopher suggests, are continually denigrated in popular culture: they are depicted as violent, selfish and lazy – and masculinity itself as irredeemably “toxic”.
This “all-out assault”, Power argues, ignores the reality that many men in today’s world feel increasingly useless and marginalised. In fact, it risks re-enacting the kind of negative group stereotyping that has so often facilitated prejudice in the past.
Power thinks there are fundamental differences between men and women and that society should go with the grain of the masculine character, said Louise Perry in The Times. She advocates a return to traditional male virtues – such as honour, loyalty and courage. “Boys and men must be allowed to be good,” she writes, and “to become better.” For a feminist, her take is “bracingly original” – especially when she engages with such extreme fringes of anti-feminism as the incel movement and the separatist group MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way).
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Many of Power’s sentiments are worthy, but she fails to justify her claim that men are now the subjects of unprecedented demonisation, said Houman Barekat in The Guardian. The “sweeping, simplistic and vaguely sour tone” of the book is characteristic of all too many culture war pieces of recent years.
It’s better than that, said Tim Adams in The Observer. Power’s writing is “provocative and rigorous”, and she raises important questions – particularly about how a generation of young men who feel “marginalised from a consumer society” can be encouraged to achieve a sense of “self-worth and purpose”. And on one point in particular she is surely right: writing off masculinity only makes things worse.
Allen Lane 192pp £18.99; The Week Bookshop £14.99
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A tomato fight, painting behind bars, and more
-
Mountainhead: Jesse Armstrong's tech bro satire sparkles with 'weapons-grade zingers'
The Week Recommends The Succession creator's first feature film lacks the hit TV show's 'dramatic richness' – but makes for a horribly gripping watch
-
Seeing Each Other: Portraits of Artists – a 'riveting' exhibition
The Week Recommends Pallant House exhibition offers fascinating instances of painterly reciprocity
-
Mountainhead: Jesse Armstrong's tech bro satire sparkles with 'weapons-grade zingers'
The Week Recommends The Succession creator's first feature film lacks the hit TV show's 'dramatic richness' – but makes for a horribly gripping watch
-
Seeing Each Other: Portraits of Artists – a 'riveting' exhibition
The Week Recommends Pallant House exhibition offers fascinating instances of painterly reciprocity
-
Geoff Dyer shares his favourite books on war
The Week Recommends Out of Sheer Rage author chooses works by Martha Gellhorn, Michael Herr and Dexter Filkins
-
6 sun-drenched homes by the sea
Feature Featuring a large patio overlooking the ocean in Laguna Beach and a marble rainfall shower in Norwalk
-
Garsington Opera opens its summer festival with two 'very different productions'
The Week Recommends A 'fabulous' new staging of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades and Donizetti's fake-love-potion comedy L'elisir d'amore
-
The Rehearsal series two: Nathan Fielder's docu-comedy is 'laugh-out-loud funny'
The Week Recommends Television's 'great illusionist' has turned his attention to commercial airline safety
-
The Ballad of Wallis Island: bittersweet British comedy is a 'delight'
The Week Recommends A reclusive millionaire lures his favourite folk duo to an island for an 'awkward reunion'
-
Aston Martin Vantage Roadster: 'a rare treat indeed'
The Week Recommends The Roadster version of Aston Martin's new Vantage coupé makes even 'the most mundane journey feel special'