I thought this was neat and relevant, but not quite for me — its tone was not something I usually gravitate towards. But I do appreciate the ideas it engages with and I think it definitely will find resonance among many readers.

At times this book made me sad, the way that the information is presented, like 'here's where we are now' but then you do get a little dose of 'but here's what we can do about it'. It's the kind of book to bring you back down to Earth and make you think. But overall, it reminds you that our time is finite and sometimes you just have to survive.

A super book of bite-sized advice that still manages to convey depth and nuance. A great stocking filler from The School of Life, I would certainly recommend it.

One of the most important books you could read this year. Its journalism sums up the modern world perfectly in an accessible and understandable way. A lot of this book is common sense that you already knew but didn't know how to articulate while offering fresh insight, scandalous revelation and ideas on how to survive the modern world.
Check it out..

I cannot overstate how much I enjoy the School of Life titles. This one especially is an eye-opener in the ways the modern world is set up in a way that makes it almost impossible to remain a sane and happy human.
Written in a straight-forward, informative and engaging manner.

This book made me reflect upon so many things. It was interesting taking the time to think about our current situation and the history behind us. As a person that works on social media, understanding modern connection is important. It was a perfect read for me.

I didn't really know about the school of life before, but this book was okay. The tone wasn't really my thing, but I liked the message and I imagine it could be very useful to loads of people.

A handy book for hints and tips to help you through life when it all feels a bit too much. I think coming out of a pandemic and, for some people,having to get used to a hectic pace of life again after numerous lockdowns, this book helps to remind us how to slow down and reconnect with ourselves.

The School of Life’s latest book has chapters of the perfect length to mull over eighteen diverse topics including work, individualism, advertising, love and perfectionism.
Each chapter includes a history of the topic and gets you thinking of the broader philosophical questions.
For example, rather than writing off materialism, it encourages us to think beyond the beauty and physicality of objects: ‘we should ensure that the objects we invest in…are those that stand the best chance of encouraging our higher, better natures.’
Essentially this book encourages us to take a break from the modern world and to think about how we live and what’s important to us.
Recommended: bite-size but packed with valuable and thought-provoking ideas.

With HOW TO SURVIVE THE MODERN WORLD, The School of Life has once again offered a fresh, original perspective. With its clear, levelheaded view on Consumer Capitalism, Advertising, Materialism, Media, Democracy, Family, Love, Sex, Loneliness, Work, Individualism, A Quiet Life, Busy-ness, Ugliness, Education, Perfectionism, Science and Religion, and Nature, The School of Life provides as way to think broadly and deeply about how life has evolved and how we can shape it and live within the modern world happily and well. While I didn't agree with every point, I heartily respected the thoughtful, evidence-based, historic views into the perplexing and rewarding, troubling and possible. I received an advance copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

Being a fan of the videos from The School of Life channel, and having read a couple of their books, I was interested to check this one out.

This book perhaps does not tread too much new ground compared to their previous output, covering very human behaviours such as comparing ourselves to others, being overwhelmed by the pace of modern life, and needing meaning. But I think where this book is effective is in adding a long historical lens to many of these discussions, looking at, for example, how the pace of life has rapidly accelerated since ancient times, or how the early creation of Coca Cola had a democratising effect for many- i.e. everyone, rich or poor. would drink the same drink.

Artwork is also peppered throughout the book to help add context and visuals to how other people and societies, in former times, have dealt with similar issues, just with a different look.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lots of insights and advice about everyday situations, and easy to read, with information broken down into small chunks.

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC of this book. I found it fascinating and terrifying and heartbreaking. I think that some folks could read this and get the wrong idea. However, it is my supposition that those folks would never read this in the first place, BUT they should. Getting the wrong idea is better than having no idea.

In LinkedIn
12 Summer Non-Fiction Releases to Have on Your Radar📚🫶 If you are always looking for exciting upcoming releases to add to you TBR piles, here are 12 non-fiction summer releases you won’t want to miss being published in June, July and August.


How to Survive the Modern World from The School of Life
- tackles our relationship to the news, our identities, our careers, our relationship to the natural world, our admiration for science and technology, our belief in individualism and secularism - and our suspicion of quiet and solitude.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the group The School of Life for an advanced copy on this new history and cultural study on staying sane in today's world.

We are living in an age of wonder, medical and technological achievements never before seen. Books can be sent to devices through thin air, or to homes in two days. Movies can be shown on huge screens to rival any theater, or to tiny devices that make David Lynch and Christopher Nolan cry. Ailments and infections that would have killed a king, or a robber baron/industrial leader a hundred years ago can be cured over the counter at our local apothecary. And yet the mental state of most people we know is worse than ever. Dumb seems to be the new Enlightenment. Disease locks us at home, environmental famine starves the world and good old war keeps riding around. How to Survive the Modern World:Making Sense of, and Finding Calm in, Unsteady Times by The School of Life tries to make sense of this Brave New World, and how we can try to make sense of and survive the new normal.

The book is broken into eighteen chapters each addressing one facet of the modern day. Sex, family, work, friends, financial and leisure, along with others. The chapters give a brief synopsis of the changes over the years, how it has gotten worse and ways to try and find a balance in your own life. The answers are a mix of psychology, philosophy and common sense, but lack the don't worry be happy of most self-help books. Some chapters resonate more than others, which since all readers are miserable in their own way makes sense.

The chapters are well written, with plenty of both history and advice on how to make you life a little more adaptable. There is so much that is odd today, that it can be hard to wrap your thoughts around it. Sadly the people who really need this kind of book will never read it, nor will most care that it exists. Recommended for readers who have to deal with people, this might make a bit of difference.

Another fabulous read from The School of Life. I don’t class these books as self help, more an opportunity to ponder philosophically and not feel too overwhelmed by it all. The simplicity of the messages, and the calmest provided, made this the perfect Sunday afternoon read. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

Modern world, where we are always connected and always aware, where we know so much and understand so little.

By learning to diagnose our condition, we can come to accept that we are not so much individually demented as living in times of unusually intense and societally generated perturbance. We can accept that modernity is a kind of disease and that understanding it will be the cure.

Our mental well-being is constantly challenged, we are bombed with information, fear, guidances of what we have to do to feel better and to have more. We are never satisfied.

The books by School of Life, as always, shift us to the right direction, to live more conscious, deliberate and meaningful lives. To think, rethink, stop and calm ourselves.

Not only to survive, but to fully live in modern times. And yes, to achieve that, we have to start with ourselves first.

Very helpful and insightful book.

A fantastic, thought-provoking look at the modern world. It covers areas I didn't expect such as sex and democracy and offers a calm, balanced viewpoint coupled with wonderful art images. It helped me to articulate my concerns about living in this time. By providing perspective, my thoughts were soothed, less emotional and I was able to reassess my views. I would read this again as it raises some interesting points and gave me a lot of comfort.

I'm a fan of the School of Life books. Some are better than others. This particular one was fantastic. I really enjoyed a lot of the historical tidbits that explain the comparison of history to the current modern world. Definitely worth a read.

I picked up the title having heard of The School of Life in that it focuses on finding ways to live a more fulfilling life. The book is comprised of 18 chapters dealing with a wide range of areas of life, from consumer capitalism, media, democracy, family, love, individualism and much more. The initial chapters brought new insights and new ways of seeing, but as one progresses into the book it feels like a repeated narrative of philosophical yet entirely western-centred exploration of perspectives. It's in this gap of encompassing other cultural perspectives that I felt the book was lacking as there is much we can learn from the entire world that can benefit living a more fulfilling life.