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Rachel Sylvester

Alice Thomson

What I Wish I’d Known When I Was Young: The Inspirational New Book About the Art and Science of Growing Up from the ‘Past Imperfect’ Podcast Hosts

by Rachel Sylvester (Author), Alice Thomson (Author) Format: Hardcover

4.7 (22)

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‘A superb study … brilliant stories, hilarious observations and jaw dropping revelations about so many figures in public life we thought we knew – but never understood’ EMILY MAITLIS

Loss and adversity are part of the human condition, but an imperfect past isn’t always an indicator of what’s to come.

This book traces a pattern: why is it that often the people with the hardest beginnings in life – children who experience displacement, disease, financial ruin, abandonment or bereavement – become the most successful adults? And is there something to learn from those people, who perhaps have the strongest sense of what matters most?

Of Britain’s fifty-five prime ministers, twenty-five lost one or both of their parents as a child and 69 per cent suffered some form of serious childhood trauma. For their acclaimed podcast Past Imperfect, Thomson and Sylvester spoke to some such prime ministers, as well as pioneers and poets, CEOs and chefs, actors and archbishops, sports stars and Nobel prize-winning scientists. How did Richard Branson overcome severe dyslexia? How did Daphne Park, born in lonely, rural Tanzania, become one of Britain’s top spies? How was diver Tom Daley driven on to win an Olympic gold medal by being bullied at school and his father’s early death?

This book brings together psychological research with scores of intimate, fascinating interviews. The resulting narrative is full of hope, and might help us all towards a better understanding of resilience, motivation, perspective and courage.

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Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

William Collins
Publication date

12 May 2022
Dimensions

15.9 x 2.8 x 24 cm
ISBN-10

000849746X
ISBN-13

978-0008497460

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Product description

Review

PRAISE FOR WHAT I WISH I’D KNOWN WHEN I WAS YOUNG

‘This is a superb study of the way strength can emerge from childhood trauma – brilliant stories, hilarious observations and jaw dropping revelations about so many figures in public life we thought we knew – but never understood’
Emily Maitlis

‘A punchy portrait of how character is forged in adversity. As an idiosyncratic, wide-ranging study, it works. Sylvester and Thomson have succeeded in avoiding “pity porn”; their book is provocative and even uplifting’
The Times

PRAISE FOR THE PAST IMPERFECT PODCAST

‘I promise not to praise Times podcasts unless I really like them. I’ve been recommending Past Imperfect to friends so it would seem unfair of me not to recommend it to readers. In Past Imperfect the paper’s crack interviewing team of Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson talk to politicians and celebrities about their pasts. Their theory is that all successful people are driven to achieve by childhood trauma. As a keen armchair psychologist I am fully behind this premise … Excellent’
James Marriott, The Times

Book Description

The Inspirational New Book About the Art and Science of Growing Up from the ‘Past Imperfect’ Podcast Hosts

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Collins
Publication date ‏ : ‎ 12 May 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 000849746X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0008497460
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 510 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.9 x 2.8 x 24 cm
Best Sellers Rank: 771,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1,168 in Child Abuse Biographies
- 1,888 in Child & Developmental Psychology in Education
- 2,389 in Business Life (Books)
Customer reviews:
4.7 (22)

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Rachel Sylvester
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Rachel Sylvester is a British political journalist. She is a columnist and interviewer for The Times and chairs The Times Education Commission. She also presents the Past Imperfect podcast with Alice Thomson. Rachel started writing about politics in 1996 and was a political reporter on The Daily Telegraph before becoming political editor of The Independent on Sunday. She joined The Times in 2008.
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Alice Thomson
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Alice Thomson is a British political journalist. She is an associate editor, weekly columnist, and political interviewer for The Times. Alice became a trainee on The Times in 1990 before becoming a foreign correspondent, feature writer and political reporter for the newspaper. In 1997 she moved to The Daily Telegraph as a columnist and leader writer and also wrote the restaurant reviews and political interviews before re-joining The Times in 2008. She has written for Vogue and The Spectator and appeared on Question Time and Newsnight. Alice presents the interview series Past Imperfect with fellow Times columnist Rachel Sylvester on Times Radio, which began in July 2020, also available as a podcast, and now in its fourth series. In 2000, Alice wrote the book The Singing Line about her ancestor Sir Charles Todd, who connected Australia to the world by building a telegraph line from Adelaide to Darwin; the city of Alice Springs was named after his wife Alice. In 2022, with Rachel Sylvester, Alice wrote What I Wish I’d Known When I Was Young, looking at why it is that often the people with the hardest beginnings in life become the most successful adults. Alice is married with three sons and one daughter.
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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

22 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United Kingdom

Jh
Good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 July 2025
Format: Paperback
Verified Purchase
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Interesting and thought provoking. Lots of insight into famous people’s childhoods you wouldn’t believe.
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Beee Ltd
It’s confirmed my suspicions
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 May 2022
Format: Hardcover
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I wizzed through this. It’s confirmed what I’ve seen in my coaching office: highly successful people who are a success because their trauma drove them on
It’s full of great stories but also science. Loved it.
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Joe dod
Great book, very inspiring. Is a must read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 May 2022
Format: Hardcover
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Such a great book. Best book I have read in 2022 by far.
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What I Wish I’d Known When I Was Young: The Inspirational New Book About the Art and Science of Growing Up from the ‘Past Imperfect’ Podcast Hosts

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