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The Cultural Tutor: Forty-Nine Lessons You Wish You’d Learned at School
Not yet published
Expected 17 Mar 26'For anyone who has enjoyed The Cultural Tutor on X, this book will be more of the same delight. Expect nuggets of insight and wisdom, wrapped in the author's trademark warmth and wit' Alain de Botton
Who does the Mona Lisa actually depict?
Why do we still look to the Greeks and Romans to inform our politics?
Where do we find meaning in a world dominated by technology?
Culture is like a language. Art, architecture, history and philosophy are its grammar. And, like a language, anyone can learn it.
In 2022, Sheehan Quirke took to Twitter (now X) as The Cultural Tutor with the aim of making culture accessible for everyone. He wrote about poetry, paintings, building design, and counter-intuitive but fascinating facts about history and geography. It wasn’t the sort of content you usually find on a newsfeed – and yet it has flourished, gaining over 1.7 million followers.
Taught in forty-nine short lessons – from Babylon to Brutalism, Ronaldo to Ragnarök – Sheehan takes readers on a delightful and fascinating journey through culture. From provocative questions (is mythology any different to science?) to illuminating stories (did you know that the highest paid athlete in history was a Roman charioteer?), The Cultural Tutor will give you everything you need to begin your own adventures in the world of culture and to see the everyday wonders that surround us.
Who does the Mona Lisa actually depict?
Why do we still look to the Greeks and Romans to inform our politics?
Where do we find meaning in a world dominated by technology?
Culture is like a language. Art, architecture, history and philosophy are its grammar. And, like a language, anyone can learn it.
In 2022, Sheehan Quirke took to Twitter (now X) as The Cultural Tutor with the aim of making culture accessible for everyone. He wrote about poetry, paintings, building design, and counter-intuitive but fascinating facts about history and geography. It wasn’t the sort of content you usually find on a newsfeed – and yet it has flourished, gaining over 1.7 million followers.
Taught in forty-nine short lessons – from Babylon to Brutalism, Ronaldo to Ragnarök – Sheehan takes readers on a delightful and fascinating journey through culture. From provocative questions (is mythology any different to science?) to illuminating stories (did you know that the highest paid athlete in history was a Roman charioteer?), The Cultural Tutor will give you everything you need to begin your own adventures in the world of culture and to see the everyday wonders that surround us.
480 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication March 17, 2026
105 people are currently reading
551 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 9, 2025
I've enjoyed this book as much as I enjoy author's previous work on twitter, posting about culture and history.
It's a wide ranging work talking through architecture and history and philosophy, art or music and a whole lot of everything. It also pleasantly jumps between ages - you get a bit of Modern History, and some Ancient too. It mainly targets what we consider as 'Western Civilisation' but does a good job of finding influences to bits all around.
I'd give it five stars but for me it was a little too conversational unlike the books I'm used to reading. This is understandable though considering the author's background and inspiration coming from posting about this content on the social media.
I'd certainly describe it as a positive and inspiring book and that's really what we all need right now. Good stuff
It's a wide ranging work talking through architecture and history and philosophy, art or music and a whole lot of everything. It also pleasantly jumps between ages - you get a bit of Modern History, and some Ancient too. It mainly targets what we consider as 'Western Civilisation' but does a good job of finding influences to bits all around.
I'd give it five stars but for me it was a little too conversational unlike the books I'm used to reading. This is understandable though considering the author's background and inspiration coming from posting about this content on the social media.
I'd certainly describe it as a positive and inspiring book and that's really what we all need right now. Good stuff
December 19, 2025
A whirlwind of fresh air in the stagnated cultural life of today.
January 7, 2026
Love the cultural tutor instagram page, which is entirely why I bought this book. An interesting "jaunt?" through art, literature, architecture, and philosophy. Quite light, great bedtime read. Quirke is always at his best lampooning lazy consumerist modern architecture. I really enjoyed seeing the discussion about William Morris advocating for a return to "traditional" architecture from a socialist perspective, that this was the purest way of putting the human experience ahead of profit by creating beautiful architecture to be enjoyed by all. And also as much as it's easy to say Le Corbusier belongs in the Hague, it is always good to remember that modern "mass-manufactured" architecture actually raised so many out of destitution. Quirke's chapters on art, the role of patronage in art, and faith are also highlights. The chapters on philosophy and literature I found were much weaker.
I also don't know why it is titled like a self-help book, "49 lessons..."; it really is not. In fact, Quirke spends at least 20 pages complaining about self-help as the fastest way to remove meaning and enjoyment from your life when you're constantly focused on optimising.
This book also falls firmly into one of my favourite categories of books, for lack of a snappier title: "The human experience is universal. Life is the same as it was 50 years ago, 200 years ago, 2000 years ago.." It's reassuring to know that people thought the Houses of Parliament as ghastly modern Gothic architecture or that Lucretius in 50 b.c. bemoaned the ever-changing nature of fashion.
I also don't know why it is titled like a self-help book, "49 lessons..."; it really is not. In fact, Quirke spends at least 20 pages complaining about self-help as the fastest way to remove meaning and enjoyment from your life when you're constantly focused on optimising.
This book also falls firmly into one of my favourite categories of books, for lack of a snappier title: "The human experience is universal. Life is the same as it was 50 years ago, 200 years ago, 2000 years ago.." It's reassuring to know that people thought the Houses of Parliament as ghastly modern Gothic architecture or that Lucretius in 50 b.c. bemoaned the ever-changing nature of fashion.
February 1, 2026
I stopped reading after reading a fifth of the book. The book quickly reveals its fundamental problem: it mistakes verbosity for insight and surface-level observations for philosophical depth.
The best example is when Quirke compares our trust in science to ancient people believing in mythology. He acts like this is some profound observation, but the comparison doesn’t even make sense—science is verifiable and provable in ways mythology isn’t. This kind of false equivalence is Philosophy 101 stuff, not the deep insight he presents it as.
The Messi/Argentina blue example shows the same issue: yes, cultural symbols have historical connections. That’s mildly interesting as a tweet, but when stretched across multiple pages with overly philosophical language, it becomes exhausting and pretentious. He writes like someone who just discovered “everything is connected” and thinks this is a revolutionary insight.
The writing feels like a teenager who read their first philosophy book and now generalizes endlessly without saying anything substantial. Quirke can clearly write well technically, but he uses way too many words to express the simplest ideas.
For a 500-page book called “The Cultural Tutor,” there’s surprisingly little actual substance.
The best example is when Quirke compares our trust in science to ancient people believing in mythology. He acts like this is some profound observation, but the comparison doesn’t even make sense—science is verifiable and provable in ways mythology isn’t. This kind of false equivalence is Philosophy 101 stuff, not the deep insight he presents it as.
The Messi/Argentina blue example shows the same issue: yes, cultural symbols have historical connections. That’s mildly interesting as a tweet, but when stretched across multiple pages with overly philosophical language, it becomes exhausting and pretentious. He writes like someone who just discovered “everything is connected” and thinks this is a revolutionary insight.
The writing feels like a teenager who read their first philosophy book and now generalizes endlessly without saying anything substantial. Quirke can clearly write well technically, but he uses way too many words to express the simplest ideas.
For a 500-page book called “The Cultural Tutor,” there’s surprisingly little actual substance.
February 10, 2026
I'm a subscriber to the author's newsletter, and this book is very much in a similar style. His passion for all things culture is infectious, and I love how it makes everything accessible without talking down to his readership.
January 19, 2026
DNF. A catalogue of the bleedin' obvious.
January 23, 2026
Sarebbe da mettere nei programmi di scuola
September 28, 2025
This book aims to introduce the world of Western culture without the complex contemporary vocabulary that academics are accustomed to using.
I enjoyed some chapters more than others. The ones about architecture, for example, were wonderful and inspired me to delve further into the topic. Others failed to capture my imagination in the same way. Unfortunately, music was omitted as a subject, even though it is such a ubiquitous pillar of Western culture.
The writing style leans heavily on quotations. I didn’t mind too much and found some of the original voices of historical figures enriching, despite the way they interrupted the narrative flow.
In sum, it is a book with a unique lens, an unusual writing style, but also some unfortunate omissions.
I enjoyed some chapters more than others. The ones about architecture, for example, were wonderful and inspired me to delve further into the topic. Others failed to capture my imagination in the same way. Unfortunately, music was omitted as a subject, even though it is such a ubiquitous pillar of Western culture.
The writing style leans heavily on quotations. I didn’t mind too much and found some of the original voices of historical figures enriching, despite the way they interrupted the narrative flow.
In sum, it is a book with a unique lens, an unusual writing style, but also some unfortunate omissions.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews