The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future

The Hidden Pleasures of Life isn't a bad book, but Theodore Zeldin covered similar ground in a richer way with An Intimate History of Humanity. "Past experience suggests that when people feel appreciated rather than threatened, they become more curious about the world outside their own. One of the greatest compliments one can pay another is to show interest in them."