"accessible and absorbing"
"this excellent little primer"

Lessons in Stoicism 
A short popular introduction to the central themes in the works of the Roman Stoics. 

September 2019 with Penguin. Further details at the Penguin website. 
  • Greek edition, October 2019, with Dioptra. 
  • Korean edition, June 2020, with Gilbut. 
  • US edition, under the title The Pocket Stoic, September 2020, with The University of Chicago Press. 
  • Taiwanese edition, November 2020, with Morning Star. 
  • ​Spanish edition, February 2021 with Taurus. 
  • Italian edition, June 2021 with Giulio Einaudi Editore. 
  • Polish edition, November 2021, with Czarna Owca. 
  • Romanian edition, April 2022, with Litera. 
  • ​Russian edition, August 2022, with Alpina. 
  • Vietnamese edition, August 2022, with San Ho Books. 
  • ​​Brazilian edition, January 2023, with Sextante. 
  • Chinese edition, January 2023 
  • Turkish edition forthcoming. 
  • ​Japanese edition forthcoming 

Reviews 
  • Expertly and vividly John Sellars presents lessons in Stoicism that are strikingly relevant to modern life. From the great Roman Stoic authors he distills teaching on managing emotions, dealing with adversity, facing death, and making the best use of every hour and situation. This is a book that excellently shows why Stoicism is the philosophy for our time. I recommend it with enthusiasm. (Professor A. A. Long, author of Epictetus: How to be Free)  
 
  • John Sellars gives an enlightening explanation of how Stoic philosophy can help us in our lives. It can put us in control of our feelings, help us in adversity and guides us in our relationships with others. Sellars is ideally placed to offer these lessons in Stoicism as teacher, scholar and as a founding member of the group that teaches living like a Stoic for a week. (Professor Sir Richard Sorabji, author of Emotion and Peace of Mind)
 
  • Sellars gives a lucid, easy-to-follow account of what Stoicism as a way of life amounts to, and how you might start to put it into practice. A further virtue of this excellent little primer is Sellars’s skill in summarising the work of the philosophers he writes about. To cover so much ground without merely skimming the surface requires real skill as a writer. […] an excellent starting point for anyone interested in experimenting with this approach to life. (Nigel Warburton, Five Books - full review here) ​
 
  • This accessible and absorbing new study by John Sellars ... As you might expect from a writer so evidently committed to making classical philosophy relevant for today, this book is light on academic posturing and focuses instead on the practical applications and potential benefits of Stoic thinking. (The Scotsman - full review here)
 
  • Sellars achieves the task he sets himself admirably. In elegant, economical prose, he urges us to become better, happier people by focusing on rational decision-making. This is Stoicism [...] as self-empowerment through reasoned deliberation. (The Guardian - full review here)
 
  • A very concise and yet authoritative account of Stoic philosophy aimed at the lay reader [...] presenting Stoicism in an accessible manner, while nevertheless being based upon many years of serious academic scholarship (Donald Robertson, Medium - full review here)