Why do we sleep?

Brought to you by Penguin

The Sunday Times Number One Bestseller.

2017 featured in the TLS, Observer, Sunday Times, FT, Guardian, Daily Mail and Evening Standard.

Penguin presents the audio version of Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, read by John Sackville.

Includes an additional PDF file of graphs and charts.

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our lives, our health, and our longevity, yet it is increasingly neglected in 21st-century society, with devastating consequences: Every major disease in the developed world—Alzheimer's, cancer, obesity, diabetes—has very strong causal links to lack of sleep.

Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, what benefits it provides, or why its absence is so detrimental to our health. Compared with other basic life drives—eating, drinking, and reproducing—sleep has remained elusive. Now, in this audiobook, the first of its kind written by a scientific expert, Professor Matthew Walker explores 20 years of cutting-edge research to solve the mystery of sleep's importance. Featuring creatures from across the animal kingdom, as well as key human studies, "Why We Sleep" delves into everything from what actually happens during REM sleep to how caffeine and alcohol affect sleep and why our sleep patterns change over the course of a lifetime, altering our appreciation of this extraordinary phenomenon that safeguards our existence.