The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life

Winner of the István Hont Book Prize, Institute of Intellectual HistoryFinalist for the Cundill History PrizeA New York Times Notable Book of the YearA sweeping history of the rise of personal choice in the modern world and how it became equated with freedomChoice touches virtually every aspect of our lives, from what to buy and where to live to whom to love, what profession to practice, and even what to believe.But the option to choose in such matters was not something we always possessed or even aspired to.At the same time, we have been warned by everybody from marketing gurus to psychologists about the negative consequences stemming from our current obsession with choice.It turns out that not only are we not very good at realizing our personal desires, we are also overwhelmed with too many possibilities and anxious about what best to select.There are social costs too. How did all this happen? The Age of Choice tells the long history of the invention of choice as the defining feature