Manthropology

Drawing from archaeology, anthropology and evolutionary psychology, the author (a qualified palaeoanthropologist) confirms the awful truth: every man in history, back to the dawn of the species, did everything better, faster, stronger and smarter than any man today. Highlights include: a biomechanical analysis proving that a Neanderthal woman would have beaten Arnold Schwarzenegger in an arm-wrestle; a philological investigation of why 50 Cent would bomb in a battle-rap with the poet Homer; and a comparison of injury rates between today s Ultimate Fighting and ancient Greek Pankration. Every modern claim to masculine fame is debunked, from terrorism (why wouldn t Osama bin Laden have made Captain in Genghis Khan s army?) to metrosexuality (why would David Beckham come last in a Fulani tribesmen s beauty pageant?). Even the modern male s bragging rights about parenting are shown up as fraud: Congo Pygmy men carry their sons and daughters for 47 per cent of their waking day, and some Pygmy dads even develop lactating breasts to nurse them. Now that s commitment