A groundbreaking book that will transform the way you think about sleep and reveal how deeply it shapes your health and everyday life.

Norway’s leading sleep scientist, Bjørn Bjorvatn, takes you on a fascinating scientific journey to show how the hours you spend on the pillow directly influence your brain, body, and long-term well-being. Drawing on the latest research, he explains how chronic sleep deprivation can disrupt cognitive function, weight regulation, immunity, and even increase the risk of serious disease, while good sleep can literally extend your life expectancy.

In a time when many struggle to get a good night’s rest, and others underestimate just how essential sleep really is, Bjorvatn offers clear, evidence-based advice to help you understand your own sleep needs, overcome sleep problems, and create the best conditions for deep, restorative rest. He also uncovers the powerful role sleep plays in mental health, learning, memory, and creativity.

Through specific examples, the scientist and doctor reveals the many ways sleep shapes our lives: from how it influences critical political decisions made in the dead of night, to how it impacts exhausted parents in important moments, and even how technology changes our perception of sleep quality.

You spend a third of your life asleep. This book gives you the knowledge you need to finally understand what happens in your body and brain while you sleep – and what really happens when you don’t.