This is an enormous book. I don’t mean merely that at 675 tightly printed pages there is an awful lot of reading to be done, it is enormous also in scale. The contents alone run to 9 pages, the scope, the range of issues tackled is enormous. So, too, is the erudition of the author: every fact, every word is meticulously, forensically researched (and I know how elusive some of these facts are) and then reduced to compact, efficient prose. What is also enormous is the message of this book: the empathy gap affects every one of us, and not merely if we happen to be male; as the author says, he himself is not affected by the thousands of ways in which males are disadvantaged in our society, but it remains false to pretend that all men are privileged, merely through being male: tell that to the boys outdone yet again in this year’s GCSE results except in physics and maths (and then only at grades 8 and 9); tell that to the 10,000 boys killed by Boko Haram, who aren’t deemed by our media even worthy of mention, unlike their 300 sisters. The tragedy is that, despite all the labour and research, I suspect that few will buy this book, and even fewer will read it. It will be picked up by some of those middle-aged men who discuss these matters online, and who already know the truth, but it won’t have much impact outside that grouping; the empathy gap will see to that. But if you have an open mind, and you want to learn about the sort of society you live in, and if you are in the mood for some heavy reading (and the author’s dry, self-effacing sense of humour and profound empathy for his fellow human beings), buy it, and read it; you won’t be disappointed.

I bought a copy so that I could have a ready record of things I thought I knew. But not only has William Collins added to what he has written on his website, he has prefaced it with a lot of sense. This is an informative book for those who wonder what kinds of disadvantages men and boys face in the world, and especially in the United Kingdom. William Collins references firm information, mostly based on government data, leading inexorably to the conclusions he reaches. Next time you hear how much more help women need, turn to The Empathy Gap and check. Next time you hear how much men or boys are ahead in society, turn to The Empathy Gap and check. You will probably be surprised.

William Collins is the most insightful blogger on gender issues in the world, on his website "The Illustrated Empathy Gap". This book will tell you all you need to know about the devastating impacts of the empathy gap on men and boys directly, and on women and girls indirectly. A tour de force. Collins gave a well-received talk at a talk we organized, the fourth International Conference on Men's Issues, held at Excel London in July 2018, “Men and boys in the UK: Edited lowlights”. Mike Buchanan JUSTICE FOR MEN & BOYS (and the women who love them)