Get Over Yourself – Nietzsche for our Times

As the subtitle indicates, this book is not just another introduction to Nietzsche, but rather a thought experiment in how he would respond to our digital era of identity politics, therapy culture, religious fundamentalism and envy politics. His influence on leading 20th-century thinkers has been immense, and the author characterises him as a prophet of moral revolution advocating the destruction of everything decadent and life-negating while preaching liberation, originality, reinvention and self-creation. Everywhere he challenged prejudices and received opinions, urging us to transcend ourselves and live dangerously. The first chapter gives an account of his life, which is followed by a series of chapters identifying and criticising contemporary cultural themes: it is invigorating stuff. It is fascinating to learn that the First World War pushed sales of Nietzsche's books to new heights, with 140,000 copies of Thus Spake Zarathustra sold in 1917 alone. He advocates individualism without narcissism, involving action and perpetual striving in a process of self-overcoming; he prefers struggle to happiness, freedom to safety, nobility to conformity - all of which requires courage. One cannot envisage him liking posts or the artificiality of much digital communication. The book shows how he can act as a tonic and inspiration to live our lives to the full and without fear.