Picador snaps up Sedgwick's history of the patriarchy and fatherhood

Picador has snapped up Fatherhood, a "sweeping history" exploring patriarchy, masculinity and what it means to be a father from historian Augustine Sedgewick. 

Andrea Henry, editorial director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Beniamino Ambrosi on behalf of Adam Eaglin at the Cheney Agency. It will be published in hardback in summer 2025 with Chris Richards at Scribner publishing in the US. 

By chronicling the stories and struggles of some of history’s most famous fathers, Fatherhood is an "ambitious study" showing how generations of men constructed the patriarchy and how this has shaped our understanding of what it means to be a father. It is a "thought-provoking history of masculinity, fatherhood and family that dares to offer a more caring and affirmative vision of the cultural, economic and sociological roles men currently play". 

Sedgewick commented: "I hope the stories of men and families in this book will shine some light on a core human question, the complex entanglement of violence and care. If we want to reimagine masculinity – or simply make sense of it – the history of fatherhood is a good place to start." 

Henry added: "The obvious question to ask is why hasn’t a history of fatherhood been written before? At a time when we’ve been hearing – quite rightly – from women and many other marginalised voices on issues of sex, gender and power, men have been comparatively quiet in contemporary conversations about the meaning of fatherhood, patriarchy and masculinity in the 21st century."