What new priorities can people give to their private lives? How can one escape from work colleagues who are bores and from organisations that thrive on stress? 

When the romantic ideal is disappointing, how else can affections be cultivated? If only a few can become rich, what substitute is there for dropping out? If religions and nations disagree, what other outcomes are possible beyond strife or doubt? Where there is too little freedom, what is the alternative to rebellion? When so much is unpredictable, what can replace ambition?

These are some of the questions asked and answered in this book by one of the world’s most famous, original, and idiosyncratic historians. Deploying examples from the whole history of human civilization—ranging from China and India to Europe and the Americas—Professor Zeldin comes up with some of the most fascinating insights and answers about the meaning of life and how to live it in the modern world.