Masonic Authors' Guild International reviews Mark C. Carnes’ “Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America,” published in 1989 by Yale University Press. This is an academic book that attempts to explain the vast popularity of Freemasonry and scores of other fraternal organizations after the Civil War. As stated by Prof. Carnes in his Preface, "The central argument is that these long and 'perilous' initiatory journeys facilitated the young man's transition to, an acceptance of, a remote and problematic concept of manhood in Victorian America."