This book conveys only one message, Get 7-9 hours of continual sleep each night. But it does so in a way that is compelling and well thought out. Really impressive & fascinating book that spends the first two thirds explaining why sleep is so important, then wraps things up with tips to improve sleep.
The book is written from a neuroscientific view and is mainly devoted to discussing the impact sleep has on the functions of the human brain. The book is divided into four parts, each section focusing on how sleep works, its benefits, the reason why dreams occur and sleep issues surrounding society.
The book is written in a way so that it does not need to be read sequentially. In the book, Walker discusses the effects of the widespread effect of sleep-loss, in which the goal in mind being that readers will endeavour in achieving eight hours of sleep once they learn about the connection sleep loss has to other health issues, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Other details about lack of sleep explained by Walker include adults who sleep for less than 6 hours at the age of 40 and above have a higher chance of suffering a cardiac arrest or a stroke during their lifetime.