200,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ 

Black Friday Sale on Now! Save up to 25% off Books, Toys, Board Games, & Puzzles! ✨

Strangers and Intimates

The Rise and Fall of Private Life
By Tiffany Jenkins
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.75 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 198 ratings, 41 reviews)
Brief Description
What does it mean to have a private life? From ancient times to our digital present, Strangers and Intimates traces the dramatic emergence of private life, uncovering how it became a protected domain, cherished as a space for intimacy, self-discovery and freedom. In this sweeping history,... Read More
Format: Hardback
$4999
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

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

A brilliantly readable history of privacy which argues that a private life is a precious and sustaining resource that must be defended.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

What does it mean to have a private life?

From ancient times to our digital present, Strangers and Intimates traces the dramatic emergence of private life, uncovering how it became a protected domain, cherished as a space for intimacy, self-discovery and freedom. In this sweeping history, Tiffany Jenkins, an acclaimed cultural historian, 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, are we in danger of losing a part of ourselves? Jenkins reveals how privacy shaped the modern world and why it remains crucial for our personal and collective freedom - and why this freedom is now in mortal danger.

Today, as we share more than ever before and digital surveillance watches our every move, Jenkins asks a timely question: can private life survive the demands of the twenty-first century?

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781529034165

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 15 May 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Picador

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 41.0mm

Width: 146.0mm

Height: 226.0mm

Weight: 566g

Pages: 464

Collections

Computing & Technology Education & Reference History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction Tiffany Jenkins

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.

Also by Tiffany Jenkins

View all
  • Strangers and Intimates
    Strangers and Intimates
    Brilliantly original . . . Endlessly fascinating - Alice Loxton, author of Eighteen An intricate cultural history . . . Thought-provoking - The Sunday Times Lucid and elegant - The Daily 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...
    By Tiffany Jenkins
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • Keeping Their Marbles
    Keeping Their Marbles
    The fabulous collections housed in the world's most famous museums are trophies from an imperial age. Yet the huge crowds that each year visit the British Museum in London, the Louvre in Paris, or the Metropolitan in New York have little idea that many of the objects on display were acquired by coercion or theft. Now the countries from which...
    By Tiffany Jenkins
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Browse lists from our team

The Latest at Book Hero

View all

More from History & Military

View all
  • Behind Enemy Lines
    New Release
    Behind Enemy Lines
    Archie Gibson's initiation into desert warfare almost proved to be his last. Barrelling through the sand dunes at the wheel of his truck, Gibson spied a searing flash of light up ahead, the signature of a feared German 88mm gun firing ... right at him. He leapt from his speeding vehicle just before it was torn apart and turned into...
    By Damien Lewis
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Cauldron
    How did an elderly cleric overthrow the Shah of Iran and change the world?Why did Bin Laden attack the USA - and why did the USA destroy Saddam?How did Britain and France carve up the Middle East - and why did the Kurds never get their own state? THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE MAKING OF TODAY'S MIDDLE EAST: A SPELLBINDING...
    By Simon Sebag Montefiore
    Hardback
    $4999
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    18% off
    Saving Elli
    One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...
    By Doug Gold
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    19% off
    Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Suicidal Empathy
    The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...
    By Gad Saad
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Race to the Top of the World
    The epic true story of George Mallory and Edmund Hillary and the quest to be the first to conquer Everest. A captivating story of adventure, daring, despair and triumph from Australia's favourite storyteller. Last century, two men, thirty years apart, set out to become the first to conquer the highest point in the world. Their names are synonymous with adventure...
    By Peter FitzSimons
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Man's Search For Meaning
    Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...
    By Viktor E Frankl
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    17% off
    The Wager
    THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 'The beauty of The Wager unfurls like a great sail... one of the finest nonfiction books I've ever read' Guardian 'The greatest sea story ever told' Spectator 'I cannot think of anyone who would not love this book... It is an extraordinary true story, beautifully...
    By David Grann
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Signed
    On Sale
    16% off
    Lizzy's Pick Lizzy's Pick
    The Chief and the Empire
    The Chief and the Empire uncovers the extraordinary true tale of Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi - the first influential Māori leader to cross the Tasman - whose curiosity about the Pākehā world forged alliances, saved lives, and ultimately cost him his own. On a visit to Sydney in 1805, Te Pahi was feted as a celebrity, building close...
    By Eugene Bingham
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    30% off
    Discipline
    Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...
    By Randa Abdel-Fattah
    Paperback
    $2800
    Usually:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    23% off
    The Golden Menhir
    Assurancetourix is entering the legendary Gallic bards' competition to win the golden menhir. But with the Romans keeping a close watch, Asterix and Obelix must protect him at all costs. Their mission? Keep him safe-no matter what... even if it means risking their own ears! First released as a book-disc in 1967, this adventure soon became a rare treasure, long...
    By RenΓ© Goscinny
    Hardback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Mum, I Want to Hear Your Story (Deluxe Edition)
    New Release
    Mum, I Want to Hear Your Story (Deluxe Edition)
    Give Your Mum a Beautiful Gift of Legacy, Love, and Lasting Memories The Official Hear Your Story Collection Mum, I Want to Hear Your Story is your key to discovering everything from your mother's childhood memories to the profound turning points in her life. Each intentional section gives your mum a place to share her life with you while creating...
    By Jeffrey Mason
    Hardback
    $4999
    Elsewhere:
    $5500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Plunder
    On Sale
    24% off
    New Release
    Plunder
    The last weeks of World War II on the Western Front in Europe witnessed extraordinary scenes of heroism, horror, melodrama, and pathos. In Plunder, Max Hastings presents a cast of fascinating peopleβ€”British, American, and Germanβ€”in a series of great events in which some distinguished themselves through wonderful deeds, others through the basest crimes. The book takes its title from Montgomery’s...
    By Max Hastings
    Paperback
    $2800
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 200,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.