The historian Thomas Dixon explores the surprising history of being alone.

In the past, if people wanted to find any kind of solitude they often had to step outside. For the Romantic poets, solitude in nature was a way of connecting with the self and the imagination. Homes and workplaces could be crowded and the growth of cities meant that, for many, the walk to work itself provided a welcome interlude.

Hobbies offered the chance to find peace - anglers found solace thigh deep in lonely rivers and a growing number of private readers of books could retreat from a busy domestic setting and explore fantasies of isolation like Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein.

Contributors include farmers Richard Betton and Desmond Collinson, Teesdale local historians Lorne Tallentire and Derek Mills, the writer Melissa Harrison whose lockdown podcast The Stubborn Light of Things let listeners accompany her on solitary walks, Corin Throsby who is writing a book about Mary Shelley, and historians David Vincent and Barbara Taylor.

With specially composed and performed music by Beth Porter.

Barbara Taylor runs the research project Pathologies of Solitude and is academic advisor to the series.
Produced by Natalie Steed
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4 Show less