Taking as her starting point images from the holdings of the National Portrait Gallery, London, writer & art historian Lucinda Hawksley explores the history of facial hair, from prehistoric times to the present day. By way of introduction, she investigates how cave men shaved, the Pharaonic beard in ancient Egypt, the work of barbers in classical Greece & Rome, & the role of facial hair at the time of the Vikings & in Medieval & Renaissance Europe. With reference to portraits from the Gallery`s collections & archives, Lucinda explains the Tudor beard tax & why Regency beaus grew whiskers. She also looks at the rise of the beard at the time of the Crimean War, the rules on facial hair in the army, navy & air force, the hippies penchant for hair in the 1960s & the most recent fashion for facial hair in the twenty-first century. Lively & engaging feature pages include The Samson Complex (the link between facial hair & masculinity), Tricks of the Trade (how barbers have made money when the beard has been in vogue) & explorations of how medical advances & the rise of advertising have affected male grooming. Entertaining & informative, this fascinating foray into our hairy past is the perfect gift for the pogonophile in your life or indeed anyone interested in the long & curly history of whiskers, beards & moustaches.