The Pursuit of Purpose

The Pursuit of Purpose

Part memoir, part study – A book about finding your way in the world

How far would you go to find your purpose in life?

The Pursuit of Purpose is an honest, poignant, and emotionally powerful book. It’s a story about struggle, finding a purpose in life, striving to build a fairer society, and discovering who you are along the way.

“This book is an inspirational, real-life journey that shows what’s possible if you explore life with curiosity, wonder and passion – the ideal mindset for anyone wanting to make the world a better place.”
Alexander Moen
Chief Explorer Engagement Officer, National Geographic

About the book

Come on the unlikeliest of journeys as we follow one man’s relentless search for purpose. Join him as he seeks answers in the African bush, the forests of Finland and everywhere in between, surviving pirate attacks, near-drownings and close encounters with lions along the way.

Discover how a late-night motorcycle accident in Nigeria led to the creation of a text messaging system that would go on to benefit tens of millions of people around the world, and how a global pandemic helped uncover an incredible family history, and with it the answers to a life purpose that had lay hidden in plain sight all along.

What people are saying

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Download the book

Thanks to the generosity of our many private donors and supporters, the full book is available here for anyone to read, in PDF format, for free.

Just hit the Download button for your copy.

Buy the book

The Pursuit of Purpose is available in paperback, hardback and on all popular e-readers from most major booksellers, including these below.  Remember, you can also get a free PDF copy from the Download page on this website.

About the author

Ken Banks is an internationally-recognized social innovator, humanitarian, conservationist and author. He is a Visiting Fellow at Judge Business School in Cambridge, a National Geographic Explorer, an Ashoka Fellow and the recipient of numerous prizes including the ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science. His work has been featured by The Guardian, the BBC, the Financial Times, CNN and the Economist, among many others.

The Pursuit of Purpose is his fourth book.

Get in touch

Got any questions? Any thoughts you’d like to share on the book? Want to book a talk or interview? Send me a message using the form below and I’ll get back to you. Thanks!