In 2000, pioneering anti-violence educator and cultural theorist Jackson Katz produced the now-classic educational film Tough Guise, in which he asserted that violence in the US was rooted in sociocultural and historical ideals of masculinity. Twenty years later, author Sumerau (Univ. of Tampa) presents to readers what Katz provided his viewers: a concise, accessible, and well-researched offering that focuses on the ways in which contemporary masculinity is integrally entwined with the performance of violence. Through the use of autoethnography and in-depth interviews with 50 people who identify as white, cisgender, heterosexual, middle- or upper-class men, the author demonstrates how males are systematically taught to be violent as they socially construct their identities as men in American society; how males routinely oppose efforts to reduce violence; and how male violence is often in reaction to attempts by others to challenge gender, racial, and sexual inequalities. Accordingly, if violence in the US has any chance whatsoever of being significantly ameliorated, a wholesale redefinition of masculinity must be a major part of the equation. Though slender in length, this book is a substantial addition to the expanding library of men and masculinity studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals.