I really enjoyed reading about these inspirational men with my son. I think it is important for young men to have these icons to aspire to.

The Good Guys by Rob Kemp and Paul Blow does exactly what its title suggests, introducing 50 famous men who have changed the world through acts of philanthropy, engineering, protest, and more. Each guy gets a one-page bio and an illustrated portrait—pretty standard in these types of books—and the bios themselves are short and sweet, however, this doesn’t mean they’re scant on details. Each of the bios is carefully compiled so as to allow lots of information about each man and his deeds to be included, both his “kind” actions which earned him a place in the book and his other works such as sport, acting, politics, and more.

There are plenty of names you would expect to see included here such as Martin Luther King Jr, Oskar Schindler, and Nelson Mandela, and there is some significant crossover with the 40 people featured in People of Peace, but the book also throws in lots of other, more surprising choices. Sir Patrick Stewart is included for his campaigning against domestic violence, Sir Tim Berners-Lee for his creation of the World Wide Web, and John Boyega for his work with impoverished kids in London and Nigeria. There is a strong focus toward British men here, with people like Jamie Oliver and Professor Green included, but the book does include people from all over the world, such as Colin Kaepernick, Didier Drogba, and Ban Ki-moon.

A few reviews of this book have asked why we need a book specifically focused on celebrating men’s achievements when the world already seems set up to do so continuously, but I disagree. This is a wonderful book that celebrates men for being kind, helping others, and serving their communities. I hope it will be an inspiration to many young boys and help to show them that kindness and non-violence can be masculine and that even tough guys can help others too.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is without a doubt the most beautiful book I have read in such a long time - both illustrated and stories. Some true heroes we know and many I didn't but glad I know do! The book makes a point of how people (in this one, specifically men) aren't celebrated for kindness but rather power or influences. Kindness is not celebrated enough!

This book is shouting about people who have made the world a better place - and the book has too!

If you want a pick me up or heart-warming stories you can dip in and out of this is the book for you.

I think it's so important that we give boys role models other than sports stars, actors and typical macho heros to look up to and aspire to be. I hope to bring my little boy up to be kind and to understand the importance of doing good and look forward to reading some of these stories with him as he gets older.

In all honesty, my initial reaction to this book involved a bit of eye-rolling. 'Sure' I thought. 'We need MORE books about the great deeds of men in the past.' But I liked the illustration style, it was a short read, and I wanted to learn something new about history so I requested it anyway. I'm actually a little bit glad I did! It certainly did what it said on the tin, and that was a little aggravating. I'd heard of MOST of the people talked about in this book and it was very male-orientated.

One thing it did do though? Turned the idea of what a 'notable deed' was on it's head. When I hear about great men of history, all I hear about is battles and conquests, or great inventions. This book focused solely on kindness, emotion and battling for humanity as a whole. I might have heard of most of the names, but I still learn a lot about historical figures I've heard of because of things they've done that aren't so famous. Leonardo Da Vinci is not in here because he painted the Mona Lisa. David Attenborough not because he's a wildlife presenter. They all have real acts of kindness in common and I enjoyed reading about how these famous figures, historical or contemporary, have made such a compassionate contribution to our world.