Published By: Atlantic Books
Pages: 304
Date Released: 02/09/2021
Are millennials entitled and lazy? Are baby boomers the most sexually liberal generation? Was generation X the last group to show loyalty to political parties?
In this original and deeply researched book, polling expert and professor of public policy Bobby Duffy explores how when we’re born determines our attitudes to money, sex, religion, politics and much else. Informed by exclusive studies from IPSOS, as well as his own research, Duffy reveals that many of our preconceptions are just that: tired stereotypes.
Revealing and informative, Generations provides a new framework for understanding the most divisive issues raging today: from gun control to climate change and Brexit to the surveillance state. Including data from over 40 countries and interviews across generational divides, this big thinking book will transform how you view the world.
*****
Thanks to Atlantic Books for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I always feel really intelligent when I’m reading a book like this, even though I don’t know what’s going on half the time. This book had the potential to be really technical and isolating for non-technical readers, but it wasn’t. It was clearly written and easy to digest.
I find this generation split fascinating. I was born in 1993 so technically am in “Generation Y”, and yet we’ve always joked that I was born already middle aged as I prefer the company of older adults, prefer a cup of tea over a cocktail, and like being in bed with a good book by 9pm, so in this sense I identify with a different generation. It is quite a simplistic view to say one person acts or thinks the way they do due to the year they were born.
It was fascinating to see how far back this generational divide goes – Duffy uses examples from Socrates, who was born around 470bc. I did like that Duffy didn’t take it at face value, he appreciated that factors like place of birth, economic background, social status, family etc. also have a major influence on who you are as a person, not just the era of your birth.
The kindle copy I received had no graphics in it, so the table/graph statistics were a bit jumbled for me, but I got the eking they’d be really interesting to read in the finished book.
You can tell Duffy is passionate about his interests as this was a thoroughly researched book, and you can feel the time and effort each chapter must have taken. Definitely food for though.
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