Dwell: “This Bookish Brooklyn Dad Built a New Room for His Son Behind a Secret Door”

The Economist: “The 40 Best Books Published So Far This Year”

Sunday Times (UK): "Superbly intelligent . . . a sweeping, savvy history . . . told through an entertaining series of mini-lives . . . An A to Z of fathers . . . Sapiens-style big history.”

The Observer (UK): “Nimbly flitting between millennia of anthropology, philosophy, canon law and human behavior, with a lightness of touch that recalls Bill Bryson or Craig Brown at their nonfiction best . . . Sedgewick’s skill for combining studious research and literary agility . . . makes Fatherhood a deeply fascinating and strikingly humane read.”

Financial Times: “Artful . . . [Sedgewick] shows that the hidden truth of fatherhood and masculinity is that they are concepts we make and can be remade . . . If only Simone de Beauvoir, who wrote in the introduction to The Second Sex that ‘a man would never get the notion of writing a book on the peculiar situation of the human male,’ could see how far we’ve come.”

Unseen Histories: “Brilliant . . . a fascinating survey with a particular relevance today.”

AP News: “Enlightening . . . a timely read for a point where family roles continue to evolve and be challenged.”

The Economist: "Sedgewick describes how thinking about dads has changed over time. What is striking is the sheer variety of nonsense that people have believed . . . [But he] concludes on a personal note. When he asks his young son what a father should be, the boy replies that a dad should be ‘funny and good at hugging.’ As parenting advice goes, that is hard to beat."

Kirkus: “Sharp . . . [Sedgewick] is an undeniably talented prose stylist with estimable dot-connecting abilities.”

Publishers Weekly: “Winsome and erudite . . . fresh and insightful.”

Publishers Weekly: “Three New Books on Fatherhood”

GQ (UK): “Best Books of 2025”

Barnes & Noble: “Most Anticipated Books”

National Book Tokens: “40 of the Best New Books to Read in 2025”

BookBub: “The Nonfiction Books You Need to Read This Season”

"What is a father, exactly? To answer this question, Augustine Sedgewick cracks open the lives of fathers before him, nearly all predating the great feminist thinkers who guide his inquiry. Absorbing, rigorous, and profoundly moving, Fatherhood is an exquisite narrative history that offers new ways of thinking about masculinity and the modern family." —Kate Bolick, author of the New York Times Bestseller Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own

“Fatherhood is a richly absorbing piece of history embedded in a wealth of wonderful storytelling. A pleasure to read.” —Vivian Gornick, author of Fierce Attachments

"We have mainly relied on feminist theory to tell the difficult truth and harms of patriarchy, but Fatherhood adds to that important canon. It is an invigorating, impressively researched, and honest read. Anyone doing the work of dismantling and reframing the heavy role of the father will find something here." —Raymond Antrobus, author of Signs, Music