Private boundaries

A fascinating history of conscience, intimacy and sharing

What does privacy mean? And what role has it played throughout history? Through concrete examples, The Limits of the Private describes the often dramatic transformations of the relationship between public and private life: from the time when snooping and reporting on the neighbours' bedtime escapades was highly desirable, through the flowering of puritanism and feminism, to the mere illusion of any intimate secrets. Seemingly personal issues can have unexpected political and social consequences.

Acclaimed cultural historian Tiffany Jenkins explains, among other things, why Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky earned him the admiration of American feminists, while the hapless intern was dragged through the mud by the media - and what it meant for the United States. Jenkins also brings up other paradoxes of celebrities - Prince Harry, while hysterically trying to protect his family from the press, has no problem recounting the loss of his own virginity in his biography.

The Limits of the Private celebrates privacy and warns of how social media, constant surveillance and the pressure to share ourselves are irreversibly reshaping our lives. Humanity is beginning to face the question of whether privacy can survive the demands of the 21st century.

Translated by Michaela Melišíková.

About the author:

Tiffany Jenkins is a British sociologist, writer and cultural historian with a BA in Art History and a PhD in Sociology. She has written several books and countless columns for the Guardian, Observer, Financial Times, Spectator and Scotsman. He hosts the podcast Behind the Scenes at the Museum. She sits on the Board of Trustees of the British Museum, has also held an Honorary Fellowship of the Department of Art History at the University of Edinburgh and has been a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Law at the London School of Economics. He currently divides his time between Edinburgh and London.