Michael Ledger-Lomas

Our struggle to concentrate is nothing new

The buzz of modernity has plagued us since the Industrial Revolution – but even Thoreau tired of practising his ‘habit of attention’ at Walden Pond

Henry David Thoreau. [Getty Images]
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  • Thoreau’s Axe: Distraction and Discipline in American Culture

    Caleb Smith

    Princeton University Press, pp. 256, £28

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