The Dangerous Book for Boys

An extremely valuable book. This book contains all the basic skills a true kickass man would have. From the declaration of independence to how to tie a slipknot to astronomy to how to talk to girls, this book has it all. I never knew how much stuff i didn't know before i read this book. However this book is meant for someone who is ambitious to gain knowledge and ability not for a lazy slacker.

I love how so much that is in the book is exactly how my childhood went. And it really brings home to me just how very little of all this useful info has been imparted to my son. My fault? Certainly. But, also, it is a totally different culture today - computers, video games, and even more young adult books for my son to read, more movies to see.... And it saddens me a bit to find that he isn't being taught nearly any of the things in this book in the course of his daily life. Information and technology are changing so rapidly that most of what is in the book would be deemed out of date and unnecessary.

I have started to bring the book out this summer and introduce my 10 year old to 'Making a Battery' and 'Marbles'.

This book is so much show more a slice of life that I hadn't realized it was gone until I read it. I am glad to have the opportunity to recapture some of it now with my son. show less

A book every boy should read, also every girl, no matter the age. Learn how to make a paper plane, a go-cart, a tree house. Learn the morse code and read about the biggest battles of all time. Contains important life wisdom too without moralizing. A bit American-centric, this edition.

Fun, cute, interesting, literally dangerous. I love the fact that the authors took half a page to tell kids how fun role-playing games are, but they seem to rely on their memories from 25 years ago, without refreshing themselves on the material or researching what they're like today, or fact-checking themselves. "When we were children, we progressed from Basic to Advanced to Expert to Immortal levels, before moving on to battling at a national level and building an empire." It's hard to describe how the different editions of D&D developed or related to each other, but "Advanced" was not a section in between Basic and Expert. It was a separate set of rules.

This made me wonder how many other errors are in the book. Worst I've noticed so show more far is a section explaining how to do CPR, including the outdated "precordial thump" -- a stiff punch in the chest intended to shock the heart into restarting. I remember seeing that thump performed in an episode of MASH, and wondering why it wasn't taught in the CPR certification class I took in the late 80s. I thought it was the kind of out-dated first aid advice they used to teach in lifesaving courses. If you watch movies of a certain age, they'll show a person trying to revive a drowning victim by pumping their legs up and down, as if it makes them breathe or works out the water. Apparently doctors still do the precordial thump, but they found that laymen did more harm than good when they attempted it, so they stopped teaching it long ago. These days, they don't even recommend that everyone should give mouth-to-mouth breathing, but focus on only chest compressions.

When it comes to folding paper airplanes or coin tricks, the book is great. I would approach it skeptically when you get to the chapters explaining why the sky is blue or recounting famous historical battles though. show less

This is one of those books that works for a certain time period. Unfortunately, for me, it felt dated. Even though the information is interesting, the presentation felt a bit snarky, with a tone that seems to be against the modern world. For example, it had a list of battles, and suggested a boy should have them. Emorized. In this day of Google, it seemed a bit pointless. It was written for baby boomers to relive their childhood. I didn't finish it.

I would advise every parent of a boy (age 8 to 80) to buy this book. Then promptly place it on a very high shelf, suitable out of reach. This will promptly insure it being read by every boy in the house. Then quietly ignore the tell-tale sign of flash light reading beneath covers after bed time.
It has a slightly strange British flavor the creeps in every once and a awhile. I mean rugby? But over all this is a good thing. I must admit I was disappointed at not finding the Magna Carta in it. Is there a full blown British version? (I checked and yes there is...) I would love to see that.
I for one would like to suggest the following items to volume two, (More Danger for Boys, Gentlemans Guide to Chaos or How to be a Daredevil).
1. Signaling show more with Semaphore Flags
2. Tumbling
3. The seven basic machines
4. Basic Trigonometry
5. Digging Holes (Not every kid built a fort in a tree.)
6. Rules for Kick the Can
7. Kites! show less

As an Assistant Scoutmaster and father of four (two of which are boys), I've had some experience on what does and does not get boys excited. The tone and content of this book are perfect for boys ages 9 to 13, and not too shabby for everyone else either.There are lots of great reviews for this book, so I will just add my two-cents worth: the whole book is worth the price for the section on "Girls" alone. If most of the boys I know (even some of you older ones!) would remember that advice, this wide world would be quite a bit happier (and perhaps a little less smelly, too).