A radical call to arms and a bold new vision of how we must act, fast, to reconnect society at individual, government and business level, from a global economist hailed by the Observer as ‘one of the world’s leading thinkers’.

Professor Noreena Hertz has travelled the world to explore the loneliness epidemic first hand: ‘renting a friend’ in Japan, visiting co-habitation spaces in Israel and trying a week experienced entirely online. From the spread of social media and the rise of AI to the architecture of our cities and the growing elderly population, loneliness is a global issue that is affecting our health and financial security.

She takes on a world increasingly dominated by big business and consumerism, and challenges us all – and most importantly, our politicians, business leaders and economists – to take urgent action to ensure we survive and thrive in the centuries to come. The Lonely Century is a bold, game-changing book that has the power to transform how we behave.