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At a glance
- Condition
- New
- Format
- Paperback
- Dimensions
- 5 x 0.83 x 7.76 in
- Weight
- 9.5 oz
- Publisher
- Penguin Random House
- Publication date
- January 1, 2018
- Language
- English
Description
BRAND NEW, Exactly same ISBN as listed, Please double check ISBN carefully before ordering. Read more
Specs 9
| Publisher | Penguin Random House |
|---|---|
| Publication date | January 1, 2018 |
| Edition | 0 |
| Language | English |
| Print length | 360 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 9 |
| ISBN-13 | 69 |
| Item Weight | 9.5 ounces |
| Dimensions | 5 x 0.83 x 7.76 inches |
No specs match.
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Top Amazon Reviews
A Wake-Up Call for Better Sleep
Format: Hardcover
"I was once fond of saying, 'Sleep is the third pillar of good health, alongside diet and exercise.' I have changed my tune. Sleep is more than a pillar; it is the foundation on which the other two health bastions sit. Take away the bedrock of sleep, or weaken it just a little, and careful eating or physical exercise become less than effective, as we shall see." ― from “Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams” Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep" is one of the two most important books I have read in my life1. Having done a little stock trading along with having survived several tech industry "death marches," things which are quite antithetical to good sleep, I had little idea just how destructive to your health lack of sleep is. A few years back, however, I began to hear that lack of sleep was correlated with diseases such as Alzheimer's, but this did not strike me as convincing since correlation is not causation. Indeed, a little later, I heard about this book at work but was somewhat ambivalent. It's just going to tell me that doctors think sleep is essential but are vague as to why were my thoughts. Luckily I noticed an episode of Sam Harris's podcast "Making Sense" in which he interviewed Walker. Since Sam Harris is a figure whose judgment I highly respect, and I know he is very discerning about whom he invites on as guests, I decided there was probably more of value to say about sleep than I initially thought. Correlation and Causation Walker's book makes a compelling case that sleep is the bedrock of good health. He convincingly demonstrates that lack of good sleep can lead to downward spirals in health with the development of health conditions that make it hard to sleep, leading to more serious health conditions due to lack of sleep, making it even harder to sleep… and so on into a vicious cycle. Walker is careful to lay out in detail when the causal mechanisms are well understood, as in the case of Alzheimer's and cancer, and when lack of sleep is currently a suspect, although the exact causal mechanism has yet to be established. By the end of the book, I realized, however, that sleep is so foundational that even a mere correlation to some bad health condition is enough to make lack of good sleep a prime suspect worth considering as a cause. Organization and Style According to Walker, "Why We Sleep" is organized so that later chapters can be read without a strict need to read earlier ones first. Thus, if you use sleeping pills and want to know why you should not, he says it is okay to and, indeed, encourages you to jump to that section right away. That being said, I found the writing style so engaging (with a few minor instances of excessive detail) and the content so important that I read it straight through. Having read it this way, my sense was that the book frontloads its most important content: It explains in detail, with specifics such as the chemicals involved, why you feel more tired at certain parts of the day than others. To give you the motivation to get good sleep, the deleterious effects of lack of sleep also come near the beginning of the book. The Enormous and Far-Ranging Effects of Poor Sleep The effects of lack of sleep go beyond just affecting your physical health, however, and Walker shows just how destructive lack of sleep will be on your ability to learn new things. One of the most remarkable findings is that you need to get good sleep after learning new information. You cannot even get a single night of suboptimal sleep the first night, or some information will be lost permanently. Conversely, if you get that first night of good sleep after learning something new, sleep on subsequent nights will continue to solidify what you have learned: all while you sleep! This is just one case where Walker details how, unfortunately, missed sleep cannot be well compensated for by more sleep later: Permanent losses are involved. Dreams Some of the most fascinating information in the book is on the role of dreams. Here we learn of their therapeutic qualities, including some of the underlying biochemistry involved. Discoveries here have led to a better understanding of PTSD, including better treatment methods. Walker also describes how dreams foster creativity by establishing connections between distantly related pieces of information stored in the brain. Here Walker includes a particularly fascinating anecdote of how Edison enhanced his creativity by waking himself from naps and immediately recording his thoughts. Empathy For Different Circadian Rhythms Throughout the book, Walker emphasizes how what we have learned about sleep has implications for how we should view people who may not have what seem like "normal" sleep patterns more empathetically. In particular, he emphasizes that teenagers want to get up and go to bed later, not due to laziness but because they run on a different circadian rhythm. It is something that is biologically hardwired into them. A consequence is that forcing school start times incompatible with this has devastating effects on how well they learn compared to well they could. Similar facts are true of people who are naturally "night owls" and run on different circadian rhythms than the rest of us. Minor Flaws Walker's book has only a few minor flaws: 1. Although he provides an excellent explanation of why most sleeping pills should be avoided, he does not mention whether this includes melatonin. 2. His discussion of the nationwide dollar impacts of poor sleep could be better presented. The unfortunate truth is that given the numbers we have heard spent on wars and, especially, financial bailouts and stimulus, rattling off numbers that are “merely” in the hundreds of millions or even low billions hits us in a place we are now numb. 3. Although Walker's discussion of creativity in the dream state and the state when just waking from dreams is a fascinating part of the book, I would have liked to see some discussion of how objectively accurate intuitions are during these moments. Anecdotally, I used to joke that my best ideas came to me during this time or not at all. Sometimes, however, the thoughts just turned out to be overconfident upon more profound reflection. Is that true for just me, or is it true for people, generally speaking? Conclusion Overall, Walker's "Why We Sleep" is a must-read for anyone who sleeps: in other words, everyone. This book will not only absolve you of any guilt associated with prioritizing sleep, but it will also arm you with the knowledge to make the best choices for your physical and mental health. Walker guides you through the critical benefits of sleep, from its integral role in memory and creativity to its power to process and put to rest the day's experiences: especially the more troubling ones. While the damaging effects of lack of sleep seem exponential, Walker argues that some of the most significant benefits come in the final two hours. Thus getting eight full hours of sleep is crucial. After reading this book, you will not want to miss a full night's sleep again. To help you achieve a full night's sleep regularly, Walker provides 12 concrete steps in an appendix. Some of these suggestions are initially counterintuitive. For example, Walker maintains that a cooler room temperature of around 65F is best for optimal sleep. Already, I've been putting this and his other advice to the test, and the results seem promising.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2023 by LenZen
MUST READ Life Changing
We all know that sleep is important. I am a personal trainer & nutrition coach. I know that sleep is key to buidling muscle, brain health, mood stabilization and digestion. However I also homeschool two daughters and my time is so tight. Over the years I have found myself narrowing my sleep window to just 6 hours per night. I knew this was not the greatest thing to do for my health but figured that my other healthy lifestyle habits would balance out the lack of sleep. But to be honest over the years the lack of sleep really has gotten to me... I found myself to be more forgetful, workouts were getting harder, and I felt more irritable. Some days I just felt like my head was too foggy to focus. This book changed my life. It completely changed how I viewed sleep. I now understand sleep to be on the same level as exercise and nutrition and possibly even higher. I used to feel guilty about going to bed early for my early morning clients (4am sessions). After reading this book with the hefty amount of data I no longer feel that guilt. Laundry, dishes and researching new workouts can all wait; my sleep is vital to my life. After adopting this lifestyle I have noticed my mind is returning, my mood too and my cardiovascular endurance. Furthermore this author is very entertaining. Even though this book reveals a lot of data I never felt like I was reading a text book. I had heard the author speak on Dr Peter Attia's podcast, which ultimately led me to buying the book. I am so happy I did.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2026 by WELLness by Jess
Informative overview of the necessity of sleep
Format: Hardcover
Why We Sleep is an overview of the author's research into the purpose of sleep as well as the consequences of a lack of it. It discusses a lot of issues and the author gives his views on the evolutionary benefits and distinctiveness of humans, so it really is quite comprehensive. Most people today, myself included, just are somehow unable to get a healthy amount of uninterrupted sleep and the author does a good job of explaining the consequences of that to the individual through multiple cognitive lenses. He also considers the consequence to the country as a whole through its loss of productive capacity due to overworking. The book is split into four, largely independent sections. The author begins by discussing how sleep occurs, including some of the neuroscience and the chemical cycles associated with our sleep schedule. The reader learns about the marginal differences between certain physiological cycles and the 24 hour day. In addition the causes of jetlag are explored as well as the required adjustment for changing time zones. The author discusses a bunch of experiments done where we were able to learn about our cicadian cycles and some of the differences in sleep requirements any cycle times by age. The author also highlights his novel view on how REM sleep was associated with human ability to light a fire which allowed them to sleep on the ground rather than be in an unstable position in a tree and this evolutionary advancement was essential for modern development. Perhaps, probably not, but the author truly is impassioned about the subject with strong views. The author then gets into why we need sleep and discusses with abundant experimental evidence, the benefits of sleep to cognitive abilities and the necessity of it for healthy living. Some remarkable pathologies are discussed, for example there was an individual who lost the ability to go to sleep and their body slowly lost its ability to function and the disease proved quickly fatal. The author highlights that the Guinness Book of World Records struck the longest period without sleep as a category due to its terrible health consequences and the author spends time on the consequences of lack of sleep to driving abilities highlighting the large number of fatalities that follow. The author also discusses the benefits of sleep to overall body health and gives substantial experimental evidence to the regenerative benefits of sleep to natural ailments. The author does highlight that sleep will not just cure cancer but simultaneously implicitly argues that it might. So the author, with evidence, strongly argues that sleep has the ability to help one regenerate far more than the general scientific community currently advocates. The author gets into dreaming and how sleep breaks up. He discusses how each form of sleep is required and they have different functional benefits. Furthermore the body needs for NREM and REM sleep differ in immediate priority but not in absolute priority and these results are discussed with experimental evidence for how the body catches up on sleep after being deprived. The author discusses multiple memory experiments that depend on prior sleep conditions and highlights the substantially better performance statistics of students who have had enough sleep prior to trying to learn facts. The author then discusses the consequences of sleeping pills, which are considered significant and detrimental. The author also clarifies the difference between sedation and sleep and makes it very clear that sedation is not sleep and does not serve as a remedy and can be counterproductive. Alcohol's detrimental effects are considered by their impact on sleep for example. The author goes through several common sleeping tablets and makes it clear he does not believe any are substitutes and argues they can become dependencies that create major long term problems. The author then discusses how much better the world could be if we all paid more attention to sleep and how overall productivity of the society could be enhanced. This sort of analysis is interesting but also in need of being the most skeptical of in terms of being a realistic analysis. Why We Sleep is informative and entertaining. It is exaggerated at times and so aspects of the credibility of the book can be highlighted. The author argues multiple times how even one night of sub optimal sleep has distinct impacts on ability and how an all nighter can be catastrophic, only to bring up an example in which an individual goes without sleep for multiple days to then sleep and make a major scientific discovery. The point of the example was to display the benefits of sleep but it erodes the earlier argument that any lack of sleep puts the individual at a massive handicap. Thus the author argues too forcefully for the unrealistic, that we need 8 hours a day without exception, while highlighting that he himself often cant sleep properly once a week. Despite the at times marginally inconsistent tone, the book is a good reminder of the importance of sleep, a good reference for the scientific benefits of sleep and important tutorial on the health requirements for sleep.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2019 by A. Menon
A Brilliant Book Everyone Should Read
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker is an exceptional book that explains the science of sleep in a way that is both clear and engaging. It made me truly understand how essential sleep is, not just for health, but for nearly every aspect of life. What I appreciated most is that it’s not written only for scientists or specialists. It’s accessible to anyone, regardless of background, and it delivers insights that feel both eye-opening and immediately relevant. This is absolutely a must-read for everyone. It offers knowledge that we should all have access to, especially because it sheds light on things we often overlook or don’t fully understand. I highly recommend it.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2026 by Jesica
Great descriptions of the sleeping brain & stern warnings against a lack of sleep
Format: Kindle
As humans, why must we sleep roughly a third of our lives? What is the function of our dreams? If these questions intrigue you, consider reading Matthew Walker's excellent book Why We Sleep. The book delves into all aspects of sleep from a person who is passionate about the subject. It starts by discussing the different portions of our sleep, including REM sleep, when our eyelids flicker while the rest of our body is paralyzed, and the very deep NREM sleep with its associated rhythmic brain waves. The book talks about what controls the circadian rhythms in our sleep, from the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which samples the light near our eyes, to the different chemicals, melatonin and adenosine, that are part of these daily sleep rhythms. Interestingly, much of what we know about sleep was discovered by explorers, who subjected themselves to the tremendous darkness deep in Mammoth Cave and performed sleep experiments. The book goes into great detail about exactly what happens when we go into deep NREM and REM sleep. In particular, memories are initially formed in the hippocampus, which acts as a short-term repository; in REM sleep, many connections are made, and the memories are spread throughout the cortex, which can be seen in fMRI imaging. The book presents a nice analogy of how our mental picture is like a sculpture, and NREM sleep takes off bits of it, whereas REM sleep refines and solidifies the features. The balance between these two types of sleep changes throughout our life as we have different needs for creating connections and removing extraneous memories. Even the nightly balance between the two changes, with more REM sleep later on. The book also discusses the bad things that can happen to us if we don't sleep enough, from obvious consequences of getting into car accidents or forgetting things, to diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and obesity. The book finishes with a lengthy discussion of what we can do if we can't sleep and how medicines for insomnia work. It presents some simple rules for getting a good night's sleep, such as avoiding alcohol and caffeine and keeping a regular bedtime. One suggestion I found interesting was staying away from blue LED light at night. Although its discovery in the '90s resulted in a Nobel Prize, blue LED light has been bathing people in sunlight-like light more and more in the evenings from our many screens, impacting sleep. Overall, I felt this was a great read from a person very committed to the subject.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2021 by Mark B Gerstein
There was a fourth thing to consider to change my sleeping habits: Reading this Book
Format: Kindle
This read was more than fascinating, it was truly eye opening. I am sharing it with people important to me, but most importantly with my doctor. As a senior with increased inability to fall asleep, he suggested flowing a sleep hygiene protocol, which didn't work. He then suggested CBT before suggesting sleeping aids ( which after reading this book, I will never consider). My therapist encouraged me to read this prior to starting CBT. Best recommendation of all. Being a self advocate, I know what I need to do to improve my sleep. Thank you Mstthew Walker!
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Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2026 by Kindle Customer
Reasonable price for a clearly written book on a timely topic.
Well annotated... Complete notes and bibliography. Easy to read. Good examples
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2026 by Elizabeth Sapala
simple but not easy
Format: Kindle
Why we sleep explains the mechanics of sleep, which is great. It explains the overwhelming importance of sleep, which is even better. Most importantly, it then gives a simple prescription on better sleep that is invaluable, obvious and tragically way more easily said than done. Read this book and do as it says and the world will be a better place.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2026 by Jerome R Mackoul