In its specially commissioned 14 chapters, this book discusses a range of issues around the theme of male spirituality in the 19th century, drawing from history, cultural studies, art history and literary criticism. Topics explored include: ideological and iconographical representations of masculinity across the major Christian denominations; militarism and hymnody; and male homosexuality and homoeroticism. The book explores controversial areas, and goes beyond the generally acknowledged "canon" of prescribers of gender identity - it includes, for example, leading nonconformist figures like William Booth and Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and early gay writers like John Addington Symonds.