Ever been struck dumb when public speaking? You might be suffering from glossophobia. Do your book-buying habits verge on bibliomania? Do you recoil in arachnophobic horror at the sight of a spider - or twitch with nomophobia when you misplace your mobile phone?

Our fears and compulsions often feel like part of our deepest selves - yet they're bound up in the currents of the world around us. This thrilling compendium of 99 phobias and manias, rare and familiar, delves into the obsessions that have shaped us all. The award-winning author Kate Summerscale takes us from the middle ages to the present day, using rich and riveting case studies to trace the links between the private and the public, the personal and the political.