Bald!: From Hairless Heroes to Comic Combovers

It's the perfect antidote to Bloomsbury's hit hair trilogy, Bad Hair, Big Hair, and The Mullet: Kevin Baldwin's comprehensive book on the history and nature of baldness.

Bald! takes us into the world of those whose heads are covered by more air than hair. Entertaining but also extensively researched, Bald! examines the cultural and sociological history of baldnessۥits varied significance (from wisdom to impending misfortune), the oddball theories on its cause (from too much cycling to excessive sex), and its outrageous "cures" (from rubbing the scalp with bat milk to the more extreme measure of castration). Baldwin goes on to tackle the finer points of drugs, plugs, snake-oil miracle cures, the pluses and perils of rugs and combovers, and psychological tricks for overcoming the stigma. Complete with a hairless history of the world and notes on shining contemporary examples, from Julius Caesar to Michael Jordan, Bald! is a fantastic tour through a subject that's anything but barren.