A very enjoyable voyage round everyman's psyche. This brought back many forgotten memories and almost prompted a nostalgic tear. I never kept a diary when I was a kid, but Harry Pearson has kept one for me. His book takes us through comics, Action Man, cap-guns, airfix modelling, an obsession with historical military uniforms, and much, much more. These are things that most men have long left behind, but they remain in the memory. And once "grown out of", they are things that cannot even be referred to without seeming uncool, unmanly or unhinged. This is because men have to be seen to be men, and cannot show that they are still boys at heart.
Pearson is excruciatingly embarrassed about his hobby (wargaming with miniature metal soldiers), but he bravely refuses to disown it. He delves into it, telling a history of "boys' toys" which shows that the love of all things military has long been a big part of boys' lives in Europe. Seen from this perspective, it is amazing that the hobby has been pushed into such a corner now, and it seems only freaks and geeks are doing it. If you feel you have these kinds of skeletons in the closet, Pearson will make you feel like a man again.