Resources: Review - A moving transcript of how boys became men

It is intellectually stimulating, addresses some perennially important youth work issues and provides an insight into what Thatcher and Blair's Britain meant for a group of vulnerable young men living in South Wales on "one of the largest council estates in Europe". It is also moving.

How often can we say that about an academic text?

Williamson captures the stories of the "boys", mainly through their own words, taking us beyond their tough facades, exposing their hopes, fears and struggles.

Especially moving is the way in which the boys discuss their personal lives and their children. Williamson raises the question of researcher and subject becoming too close - he lived on the estate himself during the initial research period - but without such a trusting relationship it seems unlikely that the boys would have found it possible to be so honest. It is a privilege to be permitted a glimpse into their intimate lives.