A Private History of Happiness ─ Ninety-Nine Moments of Joy from Around the World

A chronicle of happiness and pleasant moments from ancient Greece to more recent times, this collection contains 99 passages designed to give an uplifting perspective to modern life. Instead of advocating the latest gimmick, guide, or formula, this book offers a wider perspective on everyday instances of happiness from different times and many cultures, advocating that happiness is found within the self instead of a political mantra, Internet meme, or advertisement promise. Including noteworthy writers and thinkers such as Marcus Aurelius, Matsuo Basho, George Eliot, Louisa May Alcott, and many others, the passages relate the shared experiences of happiness throughout time, followed by a brief description and commentary that encourages further reflection and exploration. These moving and often beautiful expressions are drawn from intimate sources such as diaries, letters, and memoirs; and reveal how earlier generations of various cultures found happiness often in the smallest, most commonplace circumstances.

George Myerson has published a number of books on ancient and contemporary culture, and modern thought. He holds a PhD in English from Cambridge University, and was a reader in English at King’s College London.