Just pointing out that boys and girls have different interests is enough to get you labelled as a right-wing extremist, if not an outright white supremacist/homophobic transphobe. Progressives believe, as a matter of deep conviction, that children are tabula rasa and any indication of interest on their part in male-coded activities is proof of patriarchal brainwashing. This is clearly nonsense, but we’re deep in the propagandized years where even pointing out elements of reality will get you added to terrorist watchlists if it doesn’t actually get you arrested and charged. But boys are interested in different things than girls are and trying to force them to be interested in the things that girls like will almost always turn that boy against whatever you’re trying to shove down his throat.
Boys don’t read as much as girls do, but when almost everything they’re given to read is girl-coded, it makes it even more uninteresting to boys. Yet the tiny minority of books that do appeal to boys are not made available in libraries and schools for fear of somehow leading in the direction of “toxic masculinity” or something.
Among the few publishers who do produce books intended to interest boys is Raconteur Press, who explain here why historical adventure books appeal to boys:
In an era dominated by screens and instant gratification, fostering a deep appreciation for history in young readers can feel like an uphill battle. Yet, historical fiction — especially in the form of thrilling boys’ adventure books — offers a powerful gateway. By weaving real historical events into gripping narratives, these stories not only entertain but also educate, encouraging boys to discover the past, develop essential skills, and cultivate a lifelong love of reading and exploration. Books like A Boy Against the Boxers by Jacob Sharp, Meteor Men by Scott Schad, and Fossil Force by Graham Bradley, all from Raconteur Press, exemplify this approach. Each integrates historical elements in unique ways, showing how adventure can transform history from dry facts into vivid, relatable experiences.
Discovery and Learning Through Historical Events
Historical fiction immerses young readers in the past, making abstract events tangible and personal. By placing protagonists in real-world scenarios, these books help boys “live” history, fostering empathy and understanding that textbooks often lack. For instance, in A Boy Against the Boxers, fourteen-year-old Eddie Donahue is thrust into the heart of the 1900 Boxer Rebellion in Peking (now Beijing). The story draws on actual events like the 55-day Siege of the International Legations, where foreign diplomats and civilians were trapped by anti-Western nationalists. Eddie witnesses martial arts demonstrations, evades violent chases, and participates in scavenging supplies and firing an old black powder cannon known as the “International Gun”. Through Eddie’s eyes, readers learn about the geopolitical tensions of turn-of-the-century China, the unlikely alliances among nations (which would soon fracture in World War I), and the brutal realities of siege warfare. This viewpoint helps boys grasp how ordinary people — much like themselves — navigated chaos, turning history into a lesson in resilience and global interconnectedness.
Similarly, Meteor Men blends scientific discovery with American Civil War history. The five boys — Cinch, Frank, Keith, Joel, and Ronaldo — start as amateur meteorite hunters, using library research and borrowed gadgets like a magnetic probe mounted on a radio-controlled plane. Their quest leads to an unexpected find: a buried Union ironclad riverboat and its Confederate counterpart, solving a fictionalized mystery tied to real Civil War naval battles, such as those on the Mississippi River. Drawing from actual historical markers and artifacts (like the USS Cairo, the only surviving Union armored riverboat), the boys learn about steam-powered warfare, the role of ironclads in river combat, and the human cost of the conflict. From a boy’s perspective, this reveals history as a puzzle to be solved, emphasizing how everyday curiosity can uncover forgotten stories and honor the soldiers who fought.
My own interest in history as a child was nursed by the Ladybird picture books my parents and grandparents bought me (with topics like Alexander the Great, Richard the Lionheart, Henry V, and other interesting-to-boys subjects). One that I still have, in diminished form is a very battered copy of British History in Strip Pictures by James Mainwaring, which must have been published in the late 1950s or early 1960s, as I got it in 1965 and it was already quite battered:
The body of the book got separated from the cover many years ago, and the first few pages got lost, sadly.
It might have been jingoistic “whig history for children”, but I loved it (please pardon the occasional attempts to colour the black-and-white images … I couldn’t help myself at that age):
