Strangers and Intimates - by Tiffany Jenkins

About the Book

A brilliantly original history of privacy with a simple and urgent argument: private life is a precious and sustaining resource that must be defended.

Book Synopsis

An Economist Book of the Year 2025

'Brilliantly original . . . endlessly fascinating' - Alice Loxton, author of Eighteen
'An intricate cultural history . . . thought-provoking' - The Sunday Times
'Lucid and elegant' - The Telegraph

From ancient times to our digital present, Strangers and Intimates traces the dramatic emergence of private life, and argues that it is now in mortal danger.

In this sweeping history, acclaimed cultural historian Tiffany Jenkins takes readers on an epic journey, from the strict separations of public and private in ancient Athens to the moral rigidity of the Victorian home, and from the feminists of the 1970s who declared that 'the personal is political' to the boundary-blurring demands of our digital age.

Strangers and Intimates is both a celebration of the private realm and a warning: as social media, surveillance and the expectations of constant openness reshape our lives, Jenkins asks a timely question: can private life survive the demands of the twenty-first century?

Review Quotes

"Compelling . . . This is the sort of history book that makes you look at all history anew'" --New Scientist

"Jenkins's history of private life is more urgent than ever . . . Lucid and elegant" --Telegraph

"A brilliantly original line of investigation, taking the reader on an epic journey through the ages . . . endlessly fascinating and full of surprises" --Alice Loxton, author of Eighteen

"Well written and always provocative" --David Aaronovitch, The Observer

"Amidst all the current narrow technological determinism, it is refreshing - and empowering - to read such a nuanced, thoughtful history of this slippery concept" --Kate Fox, author of Watching the English

"From Tudor Treason Trials to Monica Lewinsky and beyond, this book brilliantly deploys the author's deep knowledge of literature, political ideas, as well as the history of law and of leisure . . . a tour de force" --David Abulafia, author of The Boundless Sea

"A magisterial intellectual history of an important and evolving concept . . . timely and compelling." --Times Literary Supplement

"From Thomas More and Oliver Cromwell to Jennicam, Big Brother and Monica Lewinsky . . . one of the most thought-provoking books I've read in years" --Adrian Tinniswood, author of The Power and the Glory

"An impassioned argument . . . Jenkins deploys an array of lively anecdotes to make her case. [Strangers and Intimates] is a far-reaching - occasionally dizzying - book" --The Financial Times

"Essential reading for all those seeking to understand the dynamics of the current privacy crisis, and why it matters that solutions are found" --David Vincent, author of A History of Solitude

"A highly engaging read, timely, and impressively broad in its scope" --Literary Review

"A stimulating history" --New Statesman

"Jenkins delivers a substantial but still nimble exploration of the modern notion of 'private life' . . . An eye-opening study of the value of keeping some things unseen" --Publishers Weekly

"Superb . . . Every page offers fresh revelations . . . Sharp, insightful analysis." --Spiked

"A fascinating look at how thinking about privacy has evolved over time. One of those rare works that changes how you see the world, with an insight on every page" --The Economist

About the Author

Dr Tiffany Jenkins is a writer, cultural historian and broadcaster. She is the author of the acclaimed Keeping Their Marbles: How Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums and Why They Should Stay There. She's a former honorary fellow in the History of Art at the University of Edinburgh and a former visiting fellow in the Department of Law at the London School of Economics. She wrote and presented the BBC Radio 4 series 'A History of Secrecy' and 'Contracts of Silence', about the rise of non-disclosure agreements, and has appeared regularly as a critic on Saturday Review and Front Row. Her opinion pieces have appeared in The Guardian, The Observer, the Financial Times, The Scotsman and The Spectator. She divides her time between London and Sussex. Strangers and Intimates is her third book.