This study of the evolving definition of masculinity in France since the 18th century examines the aristocratic ethos of male honour, the cultural practices and mentality of middle- and upper-class men, and the appeal of codes of honour to men throughout French society.

In this study of upper-class masculinity from the end of the "ancien regime" in 1789 to the end of World War I, Robert Nye argues that manhood, masculinity, and male sexuality is, like femininity, a cultural construct, comprising a strict set of heroic ideals and codes of honour which few men have been able to realize in practice. In doing so, Nye destablilizes and historicizes the male body, and incorporates gender into the brand of cultural history inaugurated by Norbert Elias in the 1930s.