Who Killed Private Life? 

'Brilliantly original . . . endlessly fascinating' – Alice Loxton, author of Eighteen

'A magisterial intellectual history' The TLS

'Lucid and elegant' – The Telegraph

We live in an age of unprecedented exposure. Reality TV cameras follow strangers into their bedrooms and breakups. Royals and celebrities bare their souls on podcasts, and teenagers document every detail of their lives on TikTok. 

Today, privacy is not just rare, it is often seen as suspicious. But how did we get here? And what, exactly, are we losing?

In her provocative new book, Strangers and Intimates: The Rise and Fall of Private Life, cultural historian Dr. Tiffany Jenkins argues that our crisis of privacy runs far deeper than social media or surveillance capitalism. Drawing a sweeping narrative from ancient civilizations to today’s hyperconnected world, Dr Jenkins reveals the surprising history of private life; how it was once feared and how it slowly emerged as a cornerstone of human freedom…