Sam Guzman, founder and editor of The Catholic Gentleman blog, has written a robust challenge to the pessimistic view of modern men as either wimps, inferior in every respect to women, or as thugs and abusers. The Catholic Gentleman (Ignatius Press, 177pp, £13.95/$16.95) is a fine reminder of what true manhood is (or should be) about: self-control, strength and integrity, in which leaving boyhood to become a man cannot be left to chance, ideology or the state. Approximately 20 million children in the US live in fatherless homes; there are, of course, parallels with the UK and its current culture of gangs and violence. Guzman comments that, lacking the example of strong and caring fathers, “Many 30-something men are living very much like overgrown teenagers for whom manhood is an ideal they have no idea how to attain.” There is also a chapter titled “A Brief Guide to Happy Drinking” – never when one is unhappy and always for the sake of conviviality, as well as numerous reminders that a Catholic gentleman is “permeated to the core by his faith”. The book concludes with the unusual Litany of Humility by Cardinal Merry del Val. Catholic secondary schools should include Guzman’s forceful defence for discussion in Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education lessons. No “relationship” lessons are complete without his profound and provocative thesis.