The twentieth century has given us that male phenomenon who, with the wink of an eye and the flash of a gleaming smile, can send whole populations into near-hysteria--the heartthrob. Over the last hundred years the male ideal has shifted through myriad categories, and readers will find them all here in this dazzling array of heart-stopping faces, from Robert Mitchum and Robert Redford to Matt Damon and Leonardo di Caprio.
This lavish photographic celebration is the result of years of combing the finest archives for the best images, many of which have rarely been seen. Personal recollections, written especially for the book by some of the beset-known figures in fashion, film, photography, and literature--including Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Tyson Beckford, Isaac Mizrahi, Geoffrey Beene, Gloria Steinem, Helen Gurley Brown, Nancy Friday, Eileen Ford, and Herb Ritts--explore the allure of the mediagenic male as he has evolved over time.