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Countering our image of early Anglo-American families as sominated by harsh, austere paatriarchs, Anne Lombard challenges long-held assumptions about the history of family life by casting a fresh look at the experience of growing up male in 17th- and 18th-century New England. Drawing upon sources ranging from men's personal writings to court records to medical literature, Lombard finds that New England's Puritan settlers and their descendants shared a distinctive ideal of manhood that decisively shaped the lives of boys and men. At its core was a suspicion of emotional attachments between men and women. Boys were taken under their father's wing from a young age and taught the virtues of reason, responsibility and maturity. Intimate bonds with mothers were discouraged, as were individual expression, pride and play. The mature man who moderated his passions and contributed to his family and community was admired, in sharp contrast to the young, adventurous and aggressive hero who would emerge after the American Revolution and embody our modern image of masculinity.