There is growing interest in the history of masculinity and male culture, including violence, as an integral part of a proper understanding of gender. In almost every historical setting, masculinity and violence are closely linked; certainly violent crime has been overwhelmingly a male enterprise. But violence is not always criminal: in many cultural contexts violence is linked instead to honour and encoded in rituals. We possess only an imperfect understanding of the ways in which aggressive behaviour, or the abstention from aggressive behaviour, contributes to the construction of masculinity and male honour. In this text eight scholars explore the interrelationship of masculinity, honour and the body. The essays focus on the United States and Western Europe from the 17th to the 20th centuries.