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The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

brad miner

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At a time of astonishing confusion about what it means to be a man, Brad Miner has recovered the oldest and best ideal of the gentleman. Reviving a thousand-year tradition of chivalry, honor, and heroism, The Compleat Gentleman provides the essential model for twenty-first-century masculinity. Despite our confusion, real manhood is not complicated. It is an ancient ideal based on service to one’s God, country, family, and friends—a simple but arduous ideal worthy of a lifetime of struggle. Miner’s gentleman stands out for his dignity, restraint, and discernment. He rejects the notion that one way of behaving is as good as another. He belongs to an aristocracy of virtue, not of wealth or birth. Proposing neither a club nor a movement, Miner describes a lofty code of manly conduct, which, far from threatening democracy, is necessary for its survival. Miner traces the concept of manliness from the jousting fields of the twelfth century to the decks of the Titanic. The three masculine archetypes that emerge—the warrior, the lover, and the monk—combine in the character of the "compleat gentleman." This modern knight cultivates a martial spirit in defense of the true and the beautiful. He treats the opposite sex with the passionate respect required by courtly love. And he values learning in the pursuit of truth—all with the discretion, decorum, and nonchalance that the Renaissance called sprezzatura. The Compleat Gentleman is filled with examples from the past and the present of the man our increasingly uncivilized age demands.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published April 26,2004

This edition

Format
264 pages, Hardcover
Published
April 26, 2004 by UNKNO
ISBN
9781890626525
ASIN
189062652X
Language
English

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About the author

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brad miner

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Brad Miner is the Senior Editor of The Catholic Thing and a Senior Fellow of the Faith & Reason Institute. He is a former Literary Editor of National Review. His most recent book, Sons of St. Patrick, written with George J. Marlin, is now on sale. His The Compleat Gentleman is now available in a third, revised edition from Regnery Gateway and is also available in an Audible audio edition (read by Bob Souer). Mr. Miner has served as a board member of Aid to the Church In Need USA and also on the Selective Service System draft board in Westchester County, NY.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 32 votes)
5 stars
8(25%)
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16(50%)
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32 reviews All reviews
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Lacrymae
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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I like the premise of this book and was excited about the title, however this book reads like someones Graduate dissertation.

Too many pretentious words and needless rambling about obscure writers and quotes. I struggled through it.

I like references to classical literature but not every three sentences.

There is a difference between best SELLING authors and best WRITING authors.

You have to write in a language that the masses can easily read and enjoy. This one is not.

However, being a compleat gentlemen also means being astute and worldly, so there is an argument for both sides.
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SproutDood
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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Some books have so much information, you need to read them twice. Such is the. Are with this title. The history and application to the modern world of ideas such as honor, chivalry, and other gentlemanly qualities is quite extensive. I had listened to it the first time and now have read it through again. The ideals presented are nothing short of solid goals a man can set for himself.
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jujubeeza
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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Not what I expected, but I love the research in this book. Gave me some good starting points for future research. I wish I had read it and Morte de Arthur at the same time. I enjoyed his opinions.
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KamuiDK
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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This is a book that has been calling to me from my wife’s section of the bookshelf for a number of years. Without knowing much about it, I decided to dive in. What I discovered was a serious (but not too serious) discussion on chivalry through the prism of three historical archetypes (i.e., the knight, the monk, and the lover), and how we might define and apply chivalry today. The author is not crusading for a new age of chivalry, but he does provide a great deal of food for thought.

This book is a delightful read. The blurb on the dusk jacket describes the book as “erudite and witty” and I’ll be damned if that isn’t right on the money. The author is clearly well-read and isn’t afraid to throw out some big words when the opportunity presents itself, but this always done tastefully and with restraint. Naturally.

This book has received mixed reviews here on GR. I perused several negative reviews to see what people might be thinking, and found nearly all of them to be disingenuous and petty, if not outright dishonest. This book was written objectively and honestly by an author with an obvious passion for the subject. What more could a reader ask for?
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Julie1234
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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A bit complicated to follow at times but overall a good book with a great deal of information regarding the history of the title of gentleman.
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AnimePope
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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Not in love with the study of idiomology and felt like that took up too much of the book. Plus, he was super wordy. Did learn a little about history but the examples were definitely not uplifting. Will not be sharing this book with my class.
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Crissillis
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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«Джентльмен подібний до воїна, бо знає, що має, за що битися, і він буде битися. Він — коханець, тому що дозволяє дружині та сімʼї звільнити себе від тиранії його его. Він подібний до монаха, бо застосовує ученість для розгадування таємниць людської душі. Він володіє цим поєднанням стриманості й відчуженості, що зветься sprezzatura, і це можна так само легко назвати незворушністю»
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Wotakunai
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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More a review of the literature than a manual of manners. A balanced critique/defense of the worldly virtues. My sprezzatura prevents me from saying more.
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