Michael Kimmel is among the leading researchers and writers on men and masculinity in the world today. The author or editor of more than twenty volumes, his books include Changing Men: New Directions in Research on Men and Masculinity (1987), Men Confront Pornography (1990), The Politics of Manhood (1996), The Gender of Desire (2005) and The History of Men (2005). His documentary history, "Against the Tide: Pro-Feminist Men in the United States, 1776-1990" (Beacon, 1992), chronicled men who supported women’s equality since the founding of the country. This “inspiring, pathbreaking collection of remarkable documents” (Dissent) was also called “meticulously researched” (Booklist) and a “pioneering volume” which “will serve as an inspirational sourcebook for both women and men.” (Publishers’ Weekly).

His book, Manhood in America: A Cultural History (1996) was hailed as the definitive work on the subject. Reviewers called the book “wide-ranging, level headed, human and deeply interesting” (Kirkus), “superb… thorough, impressive and fascinating” (Chicago Tribune), “perceptive and refreshing” (Indianapolis Star). One reviewer wrote that “Kimmel’s humane, pathbreaking study points the way toward a redefinition of manhood that combines strength with nurturing, personal accountability, compassion and egalitarianism” (Publishers’ Weekly). Another called it “the most wide-ranging, clear-sighted, accessible book available on the mixed fortunes of masculinity in the United States” (San Francisco Chronicle). Another called it “a cultural history as readable and fascinating as Kate Millet’s epoch-making Sexual Politics (Booklist). The book also received impressive reviews in The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post Book World (front page review), and The New York Times Book Review, which noted that this “concise, incisive” book “elucidates the masculine ideals of the past 200 years…just as shelves of feminist books have elucidated the feminine.”

He also co-edited The Encyclopedia on Men and Masculinities (2 volumes, 2004) and The Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities. The Encyclopedia was named “best of Reference” by the New York Public Librarians Association in 2004.