Great Thinkers: Simple tools from sixty great thinkers to improve
At a glance
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Curious generalists — especially those new to philosophy or the history of ideas — who want an accessible, visually engaging orientation to sixty influential thinkers across Eastern and Western traditions, filtered through The School of Life's lens of emotional intelligence and practical utility.
Worth it if
You want a durable single-volume browser's companion that makes millennia of human thought immediately relevant to everyday life, and you're happy to engage with an openly partial, editorially curated canon rather than a neutral academic survey.
Skip if
You're a specialist or advanced reader in any of the fields covered, or you want rigorous philosophical analysis and comprehensive intellectual history — the profiles are deliberately compressed and the canon is shaped by one organisation's therapeutic and aesthetic values, which may feel narrow or reductive.
What readers & critics say
Sobrief.com reports that Great Thinkers receives mostly positive reviews for its accessible introduction to influential thinkers, with readers appreciating its concise format and ability to spark interest in further exploration, though some criticise oversimplification of complex ideas. Mrulster.com's review notes the book is a compilation of sixty short essays dedicated to "developing emotional intelligence through the help of culture," while also raising a specific criticism about the dearth of women — pointing out that the first female thinker, Margaret Mead, appears only past the halfway point.
Sources: sobrief.com, mrulster.comPreview the book
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- Is it worth reading?
- For curious generalists new to the history of ideas, Great Thinkers delivers genuine value: it makes millennia of human thought navigable in a single accessible volume, curated by one of the most recognised popularisers of philosophy for general audiences. The unusually broad sweep of disciplines — spanning psychotherapy and architecture alongside philosophy and literature — and the inclusion of Eastern alongside Western thinkers give it more range than its format might suggest. The key caveat is that specialists, advanced readers, or anyone seeking rigorous analytical engagement will find the profiles too compressed and the canon too shaped by The School of Life's therapeutic aesthetic to be satisfying. Readers who align with the premise that culture is a vehicle for self-understanding will find it a richly stocked companion.
- Similar books
- Readers who enjoy Great Thinkers will find strong common ground with other School of Life titles reviewed by LuvemBooks. A Simpler Life: A Guide to Greater Serenity, Ease, and Clarity by The School of Life shares the same practical, emotionally intelligent approach to self-improvement, while Big Ideas for Curious Minds: An Introduction to Philosophy by The School of Life offers a more foundational entry into philosophical thinking. Both titles carry the same accessible, visually considered house style and the same conviction that ideas are tools for living rather than objects of purely academic study.
- Who should read this?
- Great Thinkers is built for curious generalists — readers new to philosophy or the history of ideas who want orientation and practical relevance rather than exhaustive academic treatment. It also suits existing School of Life enthusiasts seeking a single volume that consolidates the organisation's intellectual framework. Readers who share the premise that culture and emotional intelligence are vehicles for self-understanding will find it most rewarding; those who prefer rigorous analytical philosophy, scholarly debate, or comprehensive coverage of intellectual history are likely to find the editorial lens too narrow.
- About The School of Life
- The School of Life is a British multinational publishing and education company founded in 2008 by British author and public speaker Alain de Botton.
- How does this compare to other School of Life books?
- Compared to Big Ideas for Curious Minds: An Introduction to Philosophy — also reviewed by LuvemBooks — Great Thinkers casts a wider disciplinary net, encompassing political theory, sociology, psychotherapy, art, and architecture alongside philosophy, and does so through the lens of individual thinker profiles rather than conceptual themes. A Simpler Life: A Guide to Greater Serenity, Ease, and Clarity is narrower in scope but shares the same practical, emotionally intelligent house style. Great Thinkers is the most ambitious in breadth of the three, functioning as something close to a master reference for The School of Life's intellectual canon at 480 pages.
- What are the main themes of the book?
- The overarching theme of Great Thinkers is that the history of human thought — spanning philosophy, political theory, sociology, psychotherapy, art, architecture, and literature — contains practical tools for navigating the dilemmas, joys, and griefs of everyday life. A secondary theme running through the entire volume is emotional intelligence: the book's selection of thinkers is explicitly shaped by a bias in favour of figures whose ideas serve consolation and self-understanding. The inclusion of Eastern alongside Western thinkers, and the unusually broad disciplinary range, reflect a further editorial commitment to treating intellectual history as a living resource rather than a fixed Western canon.
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Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
Reading level
Adult
Skip if you want rigorous scholarly analysis or comprehensive coverage of intellectual history rather than an emotionally intelligent, editorially curated guide to great ideas.
Editorial Review
Great Thinkers: Simple Tools from Sixty Great Thinkers to Improve Your Life Today is a wide-ranging illustrated reference book that distils the intellectual canon of The School of Life — drawing on philosophy, political theory, sociology, psychotherapy, art, architecture, and literature — into accessible profiles designed to help readers navigate the dilemmas, joys, and griefs of everyday life.
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