Masculine codes of honor and dominance often are expressed in acts of violence, including war and terrorism. In Disarming Manhood: Roots of Ethical Resistance, David A. J. Richards examines the lives of five famous men—great leaders and crusaders—who actively resisted violence and presented more humane alternatives to further their causes.

Richards argues that William Lloyd Garrison, Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas Gandhi, Winston Churchill, and Martin Luther King Jr. shared a psychology whose nonviolent roots were deeply influenced by a loving, maternalistic ethos. Drawing upon psychology, history, political theory, and literature, Richards traces a connection between these leaders and the maternal figures who profoundly shaped their responses to conflict, often on the basis of an original interpretation of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

The voice of nonviolent masculinity has empowered ethical transformations, including civil disobedience in South Africa, India, and the United States. Disarming Manhood demonstrates that as Garrison, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Churchill, and King carried out their various missions, they were galvanized by teachings whose ethical foundations rejected unjust violence. Accessibly written and free of jargon, Disarming Manhood will interest a wide audience as it furthers the understanding of human nature itself and contributes to the fields of developmental psychology and feminist scholarship.