Singapore, July 14 -- "All the lonely people," sang The Beatles in their 1966 song Eleanor Rigby. "Where do they all come from?"
British historian David Vincent has some ideas. The 71-year-old is an expert on solitude, which suddenly became the subject of the moment earlier this year, as the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world to enter isolation en masse.
It was an unexpected coincidence for his latest book, A History Of Solitude, which was published in the midst of the outbreak - although ironically, there were no bookshops open for him then to reap the sales.
The Open University emeritus professor in history has published other books on literacy, privacy and secrecy. "They have not all received this level of attention," he observes w...