The View from Ninety
Reflections on How to Live a Long, Contented Life
Published on 12. June 2025
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-5291-5480-1 (ISBN)
Description
FROM THE BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF THE EMPTY RAINCOAT AND UNDERSTANDING ORGANISATIONS.
Over a span of seven decades, Charles Handy was, variously, a businessman, a writer, a philanthropist and a philosopher. Not even a stroke as he approached the age of 90 dimmed his intellectual curiosity or his immense zest for life.
In this, his final book, written from the vantage point of a contemplative old age and drawing on his articles for The Idler he shares his thoughts on the big questions with which we all grapple:
What things really matter?
What daily worries should we learn to treat as unimportant?
How do we become more accepting of ourselves and of those around us?
How do we discover purpose in our everyday existence? How do we cope with grief and loss?
Drawing in part on his own experience, in part on the wisdom of others, he sets out the principles of enjoying a fulfilled and contented life, and gently points the way to the practicalities of achieving it.
Over a span of seven decades, Charles Handy was, variously, a businessman, a writer, a philanthropist and a philosopher. Not even a stroke as he approached the age of 90 dimmed his intellectual curiosity or his immense zest for life.
In this, his final book, written from the vantage point of a contemplative old age and drawing on his articles for The Idler he shares his thoughts on the big questions with which we all grapple:
What things really matter?
What daily worries should we learn to treat as unimportant?
How do we become more accepting of ourselves and of those around us?
How do we discover purpose in our everyday existence? How do we cope with grief and loss?
Drawing in part on his own experience, in part on the wisdom of others, he sets out the principles of enjoying a fulfilled and contented life, and gently points the way to the practicalities of achieving it.
Reviews / Votes
A guru * The Times * A wise and gentle commentator * The Guardian * Offers wit, wisdom and gratitude. [...] Charles Handy's 19th and last book is not his heftiest. But it may be, in some important respects, his weightiest. These final breaths of wisdom sacrifice little of Handy's wit, charm and storytelling skill. -- Andrew Hill * Financial Times * Rightly treasured as Charles Handy's books are, his most important lesson may be his life. This collection of short reflections on life, work and people... reflects old age, but its spirit doesn't. Handy's later books are only indirectly about business... but paradoxically that is exactly why any business leader would profit from reading it. Sharp insights abound. -- Simon Caulkin * Director Magazine *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Dimensions
Height: 217 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
312 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5291-5480-1 (9781529154801)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 07/2026
Penguin (Cornerstone)
€14.00
Not yet published
E-Book
06/2025
Penguin (Cornerstone)
€14.99
Available for download
Book
06/2025
Hutchinson Heinemann
€19.00
Available immediately
Person
Charles Handy was a writer, broadcaster and teacher, as well as a former oil executive, an economist, a professor at the London Business School, the Warden of St. George's House in Windsor Castle and the chairman of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. He was born in Co. Kildare in Ireland, the son of an archdeacon, and educated in Ireland, England (Oxford University) and the USA (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). His many books include The Empty Raincoat, Gods of Management, The Second Curve and 21 Letters.