This clever and informative aptronymical book (which is also a how-to and style guide) is - like some of the facial hair featured in this book- very neat and versatile.

Men have been growing, shaving and styling their facial hair for millennia and allowing culture, religion or plain vanity to influence it’s development and look but most men don’t give their facial hair a second thought. Mr King Camp Gillette (yep that’s his real name) has a lot of answer for.

Class, politics and sexuality influence the way we wear our facial hair and there’s some good teasing out of the background and history of this. The authors Allan Peterkin & Nick Burns have done their research well and its obvious this is both a serious passion for both of them and a labor of love.

The Bearded Gentleman is a friendly and easy to use guide that shows you how to grow and (more importantly) maintain more than fifty facial hair styles. The writers also offer up some curious titbits about where these styles come from, how they developed and how to grow them in the first place.

Who knew there was so much history hidden in the follicles of men’s faces? Some of the names of the beards bear testimony to their origins, both in the less PC past and in the age of adventure, the Van Dyck, the Fu Manchu and the Soul Patch being good examples of this, others have such a bizarre names that it needs some explanation of why, including the Lampshade, the Painter’s Brush, the French Fork, and El Insecto! This book excels at this with a witty and entertaining story for every beard featured.

Along with practical advice on choosing a beard that will fit your face, age and hair growth and some genuinely interesting commentary on how facial hair and the ideas of masculinity have been formed and grown together.

This book is like a really good barber; you know you can relax, you’re in good hands and the chit chat is just interesting enough to pay attention to without it being overwhelming.

Oh and you end up looking as best as you can! The perfect paperback book gift for the well groomed man in your life or the hairy monster who’s willing to give a new look, or a vintage classic a try.

Out now £10.99  from the publishers website here:
Or all good bookshops.