Roman Krznaric is a cultural thinker, writer, and founding faculty member of The School of Life in London. He has taught sociology and politics at Cambridge and City University, London, and advises organizations including Oxfam and the United Nations on using empathy and conversation to create social change. He has been named by The Observer as one of Britain's leading lifestyle philosophers. Visit him at www.RomanKrznaric.com.

We all have access to a variety of resources to help us deepen and enrich our lives. Some turn to the great spiritual teachers who speak about things that matter. Psychologists, coaches, and counselors have plenty of suggestions for how we might attain a happy and flourishing life. And, of course, there are many self-help gurus recommending routes to health and wealth. Krznaric suggests that we seek inspiration in the words of people who have lived in other epochs and cultures. Learning from history is something that seems so obvious but is often overlooked in this present-obsessed era. The author corrects that oversight in this book filled with wise bits of information.

"I think of history as a wonderbox, similar to the curiosity cabinets of the Renaissance — what the Germans called a Wunderkammer. Collectors used these cabinets to display an array of fascinating and unusual objects, each with a story to tell, such as miniature Turkish abacus or a Japanese ivory carving. Passed down from one generation to another, they were repositories of family lore and learning, tastes and travels, a treasured inheritance. . . . There is much to learn about life opening the wonderbox of history."

This book helps us tap into this stream of "applied history" and uncover the hidden ideas for good living. Krznaric uses materials from the ancient Greeks to the present day. The book is divided into four sections:

• Nurturing Relationships (love, family, empathy)
• Making a Living (work, time, money)
• Discovering the world (senses, travel, nature)
• Breaking Conventions (belief, creativity, deathstyle)

Here is a brief sampler of the some of the ideas from the past, along with a few challenges from our times:

• The ancient Greeks identified six varieties of love.
• Conversation is the unseen thread that binds families together.
• In Britain, 20% of the workers do not have time for lunch. — The siesta has almost completely disappeared from Spanish life.
• Aboriginals did not work all day but spent time with family, friends and idle pleasures.
• The other senses have been slighted in comparison with the eyes.
• Many Japanese Buddhists saw travel as a path of personal progress toward enlightenment.
• In our digital age, we need to bring back the view of nature as full of beauty and meaning espoused by the eighteenth century Romantics.
• History teaches us that sacrifice is part of the meaning of belief.
• Like many of the great artists of the past, creativity is more than talent; it is a philosophy of personal independence.
• We need to rethink our attitudes toward death and, in the spirit of yesteryear, do our dance with death honoring its presence in our lives.

In the "Epilogue," Krznaric points to the boldness and commitment to change exemplified by the choices made by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Henry David Thoreau. He calls them pioneers of "experiential outrospection" rather than philosophical introspection. He concludes with:

"We might live our lives in a thousand different ways. And the civilisations of the past enable us to recognize that our habitual ways of loving, working, creating and dying are not the only options before us. We need only open the wonderbox of history and look inside to see new and surprising possibilities for the art of living. Let them spark our curiosity, captivate our imaginations and inspire our actions."