Introduction: theoretical framework for masculinity studies -- The criminal as enemy of reason in Arthur Conan Doyle's "The speckled band" (1892) and Paul May's Das gefleckte band (1967) -- Usurping the father in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure island (1883) and Wolfgang Liebeneiner's Die schatzinsel (1966) -- The arms race and self-determination in Erskine Childers' Riddle of the sands (1903) and Rainer Boldt's Das rätsel der sandbank (1985) -- Mutual destruction and self-determination in Joseph Conrad's Victory (1915) and Vadim Glowna's Des teufels paradies (1986/1987)
