The Hidden Pleasures of Life

Theodore Zeldin has been named 'one of the forty world figures whose ideas are likely to have a lasting relevance to the new millennium' (Independent on Sunday), and 'one of Britain's leading intellects' (Management Today). His books Conversation and An Intimate History of Humanity are international bestsellers. For his studies of France he has been called 'a modern Balzac', 'not just funny, [but also] intelligent, loving, caustic, learned, light-hearted, serious, brilliant' - and he has been made a Commander of the Légion d'Honneur. He has won the Wolfson Prize for history, been elected to the British Academy and the European Academy and been awarded the CBE. He is an Emeritus Fellow of St Antony's College and an Associate Fellow of Green Templeton College in Oxford.

What is the great adventure of our time? What is a wasted life? How can people lose their illusions about themselves? What alternatives are there to being a rebel? What can the poor tell the rich? What could the rich tell the poor? How many ways of committing suicide are there? How can an unbeliever understand a believer? How can a religion change? How can prejudices be overcome? How can one think about the future, without trying to predict it or worrying about it? Is ridicule the most effective form of non-violent protest? How does one acquire a sense of humour? What stops people feeling completely at home in their own country? How many nations can one love at the same time? Why do so many people feel unappreciated, unloved and not fully alive? How else might women and men treat one another? What can replace the shortage of soul-mates? Is another kind of sexual revolution achievable? What can artists aim for beyond self-expression? What is more interesting than becoming a leader? What is the point of working so hard? Are there more amusing ways of earning a living? What else can one do in a hotel? What more can the young ask of their elders? Is remaining young at heart enough to avoid becoming old? What is worth knowing? What does it mean to be alive? Where can one find nourishment for the mind?