Jordan Peterson's work as a clinical psychologist has reshaped the modern understanding of personality and now he has become one of the world's most popular public thinkers, with his lectures on topics ranging from the bible to romantic relationships drawing tens of millions of viewers. In an era of polarizing politics, echo chambers and trigger warnings, his startling message about the value of personal responsibility and the dangers of ideology has resonated around the world. In this book, he combines ancient wisdom with decades of experience to provide twelve profound and challenging principles for how to live a meaningful life, from setting your house in order before criticising others to comparing yourself to who you were yesterday, not someone else today. Gripping, thought-provoking and deeply rewarding, 12 rules for life offers an antidote to the chaos in our lives: eternal truths applied to our modern problems.


Review
Peterson's appeal...is genuinely extraordinary. Clearly many young men feel he gives them a sense of meaning, inspiration and encouragement unmatched by any other modern thinker ... A prophet for our times (Dominic Sandbrook Daily Mail)

Everyone must read 12 Rules For Life, by Jordan B. Peterson. It is the most enlightening book I have read in ages. Google him if you like, if it makes you feel better. It will, by the way. His YouTube lectures are amazing for all sorts of reasons. But get the book, that is the most important thing. And then read it. And then pass it on to a friend, or even better, an enemy (Chris Evans)

Peterson is charismatic and exceptionally articulate.... There is something masterful about him... He is a new kind of public intellectual, using YouTube to spread ideas infinitely wider than predecessors such as Bertrand Russell or Isaiah Berlin. ... He's filling the hole out of which my generation has just clambered. His essential message that men should grow up is a way of saying, it's cool to be free - but to what end?' (Amol Rajan New Statesman)

The most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now (New York Times)

A phenomenon (Prospect)

Anyone who is in a position of leadership would find it very insightful ... Jordan Peterson is a profound writer - he messes together the disciplines of psychology, anthropology, science, and politics (Gina Miller)

Jordan Peterson is a Canadian psychologist whose seemingly overnight ascent to cultural rockstar comes after years of deep scholarship in many disciplines. His new book, 12 Rules for Life, is atop bestseller lists, and millions have followed his lectures on YouTube. He has a penchant for seeing the application of micro-scale information to societal problems (Psychology Today)

In a different intellectual league... Peterson can take the most difficult ideas and make them entertaining. This may be why his YouTube videos have had 35m views. He is fast becoming the closest that academia has to a rock star (Observer)

It is that rare thing: self-help that might actually be helpful (New Statesman)

One of the most eclectic and stimulating public intellectuals at large today, fearless and impassioned (Matthew d'Ancona Guardian)

Jordan B. Peterson is a Professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. Raised in the frigid wastelands of Northern Alberta, he has flown a hammer-head roll in a carbon-fiber stunt-plane, and built a Kwagu'l ceremonial bighouse on the upper floor of his Toronto home after being invited into and named by that Canadian First Nation. He's taught mythology to lawyers, doctors and business people, consulted for the UN Secretary General, helped his clinical clients manage depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety, and lectured extensively in North America and Europe. With his students and colleagues, Dr. Peterson has published over a hundred scientific papers, and his book Maps of Meaning revolutionized the psychology of religion. Formerly a professor at Harvard University, he was nominated for its prestigious Levenson Teaching Prize.