Author Guide · Stoicism · Psychotherapy
Books Written by
Donald Robertson spent about twenty years as a psychotherapist in London, with a clinic on Harley Street that specialised in anxiety, before he became one of the best-known writers on Stoicism. His argument runs through every book: the techniques of cognitive-behavioural therapy have a precursor in the exercises of Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. He made that case for therapists in 2010, then for general readers, and in 2019 told it through the life of a single emperor in How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, which his website says has been translated into eighteen languages. He is a founding member of Modern Stoicism, the group behind the annual Stoic Week. This guide covers his eight key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 8 key books · 2010–2024 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Donald Robertson has written eight key books, from The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (2010) to How to Think Like Socrates (2024). The best known is How to Think Like a Roman Emperor (2019), followed by the graphic novel Verissimus (2022) and the biography Marcus Aurelius: The Stoic Emperor (2024). Start with How to Think Like a Roman Emperor; read on to see which of the others suits you.
Where to Start with Donald Robertson
If you want his best-known book
→ How to Think Like a Roman Emperor (2019) — Marcus Aurelius’s life, chapter by chapter, with Stoic techniques.
If you want a practical Stoicism workbook
→ Stoicism and the Art of Happiness (2013) — exercises in the Teach Yourself format.
If you want the history without the self-help
→ Marcus Aurelius (2024) — a philosophical biography from Yale University Press.
If you want Stoicism as a graphic novel
→ Verissimus (2022).
8 Donald Robertson Books, in Order
The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy
His first book, published by Karnac for therapists, traces the roots of modern CBT back to Stoic philosophy and sets out how ancient Stoic exercises can be used in therapy today. Routledge, which later acquired Karnac, published a revised second edition with a new chapter on third-wave CBT.
Build Your Resilience
His first book in Hodder’s Teach Yourself series, a practical guide to coping with stress and setbacks that combines CBT, mindfulness and stress-management techniques with ideas taken from Stoicism.
The Practice of Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapy
A professional manual on combining hypnosis with cognitive-behavioural therapy, drawn from his years as a hypnotherapist and as principal of a training school for therapists in London. Karnac published it first; Routledge later reissued it.
Stoicism and the Art of Happiness
A Teach Yourself introduction to Stoic ethics written as a course: each chapter explains an idea from the ancient Stoics and turns it into exercises for daily life. A revised second edition in 2018 added a chapter on contemplating death.
How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
Each of the eight chapters opens with an episode from the life of Marcus Aurelius, from his death at Vindobona in 180 AD to his youth, his mentor Junius Rusticus, his chronic pain and the revolt of Avidius Cassius, and then teaches a Stoic technique linked to modern CBT, such as cognitive distancing, worry postponement and decatastrophising. Published by St. Martin’s Press, it is his most widely read book.
Verissimus
A graphic novel about the life and philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, drawn by the Portuguese illustrator Zé Nuno Fraga and published by St. Martin’s Press in July 2022. The title is the nickname the emperor Hadrian gave the young Marcus: “most truthful”.
Marcus Aurelius
A philosophical biography for Yale University Press’s Ancient Lives series, published in February 2024. Drawing on the Meditations, Marcus’s letters and the Augustan History, it covers his mother Domitia Lucilla, Hadrian and his Stoic tutors, as well as his decisions on slavery, the Christians, the Antonine Plague and the succession of his son Commodus.
How to Think Like Socrates
A companion to the Marcus Aurelius book, published by St. Martin’s Press in November 2024, that combines a biography of Socrates with an explanation of the Socratic method. It presents Socrates’ Athens as a city recovering from a plague and divided by politics, and applies his questioning to fear, death and persuasive rhetoric. The Associated Press praised its account of the method but found the long historical sections hard to follow.
In What Order to Read Donald Robertson
His books fall into three groups. The first three are mainly for therapists and people interested in CBT; Build Your Resilience and Stoicism and the Art of Happiness are practical workbooks; and the books from 2019 onwards tell the lives of ancient philosophers and draw lessons from them.
Nothing needs to be read in sequence. The three books about Marcus Aurelius cover the same life in three forms: self-help in How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, pictures in Verissimus and history in Marcus Aurelius: The Stoic Emperor. Pick the one that matches what you want, and read the others only if you want more.
A reading path
1. How to Think Like a Roman Emperor (2019)
2. Stoicism and the Art of Happiness (2013)
3. Marcus Aurelius: The Stoic Emperor (2024)
4. How to Think Like Socrates (2024)
5. The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (2010)
Everything Else Donald Robertson Published
Beyond the 8 key books: 3 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Edited books and introductions
3
3 books · 2009–2021
- 2009The Discovery of Hypnosisthe complete writings of James Braid, edited by Robertson for the National Council for Hypnotherapy
- 2020Meditationsintroduction to the Capstone Classics edition of Marcus Aurelius
- 2021Letters from a Stoicintroduction to the Capstone Classics edition of Seneca
The years · 1972–2024
Quick facts about Donald Robertson
- Known for
- Donald Robertson is known for bringing together Stoic philosophy and cognitive-behavioural therapy, above all through the life of Marcus Aurelius.
- 1972
- Born in Irvine, Ayrshire
- 2024
- Biography of Marcus Aurelius for Yale
- Born
- 27 December 1972, Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland; grew up in Ayr
- Education
- Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen; master’s at the University of Sheffield; CBT diploma from King’s College London
- Worked
- Psychotherapist in London for about twenty years, with a clinic on Harley Street
- Founded
- Founding member of Modern Stoicism; founder and president of the Plato’s Academy Centre in Athens
- Lives
- Emigrated to Canada in 2013; divides his time between Canada and Greece
- Best known for
- How to Think Like a Roman Emperor (2019)
The red mark is 2019: How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, the book that took his work beyond therapists.
How Donald Robertson Writes: Stoicism as Therapy
Robertson writes as a therapist first. His starting point, set out in The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (2010), is that the Stoics practised something close to modern CBT: they taught that people are disturbed less by events than by their judgements about them, and they trained those judgements with daily exercises. His books keep translating those exercises into clinical terms, such as cognitive distancing, decatastrophising and worry postponement.
From 2019 he hangs the techniques on a life story. Every chapter of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor opens with a scene from the life of Marcus Aurelius, drawn from the Roman histories, before turning to method, and the book begins and ends at the emperor’s deathbed. How to Think Like Socrates uses the same pattern, with much more ancient history, which some reviewers found heavy going.
He also changes form to reach different readers: Teach Yourself workbooks, a graphic novel and a biography for a university press. For other writers on Stoic philosophy and its ancient sources, see Authors like Marcus Aurelius.
Frequently asked questions about Donald Robertson’s books
How many books has Donald Robertson written?
Eight key books, the ones on this page, from The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (2010) to How to Think Like Socrates (2024). He also edited The Discovery of Hypnosis (2009), the collected writings of James Braid, and wrote introductions to editions of Marcus Aurelius and Seneca.
What are Donald Robertson’s books in order?
The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (2010), Build Your Resilience (2012), The Practice of Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapy (2012), Stoicism and the Art of Happiness (2013), How to Think Like a Roman Emperor (2019), Verissimus (2022), Marcus Aurelius: The Stoic Emperor (2024) and How to Think Like Socrates (2024).
Where should I start with Donald Robertson?
How to Think Like a Roman Emperor (2019). It tells the life of Marcus Aurelius and teaches a Stoic technique in each chapter, so it works both as an introduction to Stoicism and as a practical guide. If you want exercises without the history, try Stoicism and the Art of Happiness.
What is Donald Robertson’s most famous book?
How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, published by St. Martin’s Press in 2019. According to his website it has been translated into eighteen languages.
Is How to Think Like a Roman Emperor based on CBT?
Partly. Each chapter pairs an episode from Marcus Aurelius’s life with a Stoic practice and links it to techniques used in cognitive-behavioural therapy, such as cognitive distancing, worry postponement and decatastrophising, and to methods for managing pain and anger.
Which Donald Robertson books are about Marcus Aurelius?
Three: How to Think Like a Roman Emperor (2019), the graphic novel Verissimus (2022) and the biography Marcus Aurelius: The Stoic Emperor (2024), written for Yale University Press’s Ancient Lives series.
What does Verissimus mean?
“Most truthful”. It was the nickname the emperor Hadrian gave the young Marcus Aurelius. Robertson used it as the title of his 2022 graphic novel, drawn by Zé Nuno Fraga.
Is Donald Robertson a psychotherapist?
Yes. He trained in philosophy and psychotherapy and worked as a cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist in London for about twenty years, specialising in anxiety and in clinical hypnosis, before concentrating on writing after he moved to Canada in 2013.
What is Modern Stoicism?
A nonprofit of psychologists, therapists and philosophers, of which Robertson is a founding member. It runs Stoic Week, which started at the University of Exeter and is now an annual international online event.
Is Donald Robertson still alive?
Yes. He was born on 27 December 1972 in Scotland and divides his time between Canada and Greece, where he founded the Plato’s Academy Centre in Athens.
Footnotes
- Donald J. Robertson — Wikipedia
- About Donald J. Robertson — donaldrobertson.name
- Books — donaldrobertson.name
- Announcing Marcus Aurelius: The Stoic Emperor — Goodreads, 2023
- Book review: How to Think Like Socrates — Associated Press, 2024
- How Stoicism Can Cure Anger — TED
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Wisdom requires being able to identify when a rule no longer holds true, and good advice becomes bad advice.”
— Donald J. Robertson, How to Think Like Socrates (2024)
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