Upon the recommendation of S.A.C.'s Headmaster, Ted Staunton, I picked up Conn and Hall Iggulden's book, The Dangerous Book for Boys. As I venture into the world of housemastering, I figure that I need all the help I can get! This book is creating quite a positive buzz, receiving many accolades and winning Book of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards (a top prize, to be sure, next to the Booker!).

As far as I can tell, the motivation for such a book was quite simple: "In this age of video games and mobile phones, there must still be a place for knots, tree houses and stories of incredible courage." Further, boys tend to enjoy similar things now than previously and I would have to agree wholeheartedly with that statement. To my knowledge, there are few books that take a close look at subjunctives, the Battle of Cannae, coin tricks, the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the genealogy of the British Royals and the famous dinosaurs. I must admit, when I am done with this book, I will not only understand boys but I be a whole lot smarter than I am now!

As I sit here writing, several boys are playing football on the quad (where they also play soccer and hockey [weather permitting!]. I think to myself, are they really any different from their young counterparts of the early 20th century or before? Things, of course, have changed, but they remains boys and that is something that we should cherish and be proud of. They may not sit down and tie a knot (although the Cadet programme helps out here) but they can find out how to do it on the Internet! As well, they may not read Basil Liddel Hart's classic account of the Second World War, but they can fight against the Germans during the famous battle for Berlin and gain at least some understanding of the futility and sacrifice of that battle. Sure they may get the information from different sources, they remain boys...and perhaps they just intrinsically want to learn about dinosaurs, Hannibal and how the battle of Balaclava ushered in a new age of warfare. It interests me...and I'm still a boy at heart.