Seeking Love in Modern Britain : Gender, Dating and the Rise of ‘the Single’

Seeking Love in Modern Britain charts the emergence of the modern British single through an account of the dating industry that sprang up to serve men and women. It shows how – amid a period of unprecedented sexual and social change – 'the single' became a key unisex identity and lifestyle.

From around 1970, a growing, cottage-style matchmaking industry in Britain was offering the romantically solo a choice between computer dating firms, such as Dateline or Compudate, introduction agencies and the lonely hearts pages of Private Eye, Time Out and others. Zoe Strimpel reveals how this rapidly expanding landscape of services was catering to a new breed of single people, and how – by the late 1990s – singleness had become the culturally mainstream, wholly expected part of the romantic life cycle that it is today.

Refuting the widespread idea that the Internet invented modern dating, this book uses an eclectic and engaging range of first-person accounts and snapshots from the time to show that the story of contemporary romance, mediated courtship and singleness began in a time long before Tinder.

"This volume explores an important subculture of heterosexual relationships in late 20th-century Britain ... The author explores the frequently painful subjectivities of singleness during this period and excels at integrating an enormous amount of bibliographical material into her analysis ... [This book] illuminates a neglected area of gender studies in Britain. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals." - CHOICE

“5 stars ... An intelligent history of the dating industry between 1970 and 2000 – post sexual revolution and pre-internet – that makes you rethink the way we get what we want (or don't). Be warned: this is a serious piece of social history and not written in layman's language. Casual readers might find sections of it difficult to navigate, but I think it adds to the book's charm. It's like watching Love Island in the company of Michel Foucault.” —The Telegraph

“Seeking Love in Modern Britain is many books at once: a history of singlehood; a study of the transformation of matchmaking from the lonely hearts era to Internet dating; an analysis of the deep enmeshment of intimacy with consumer culture. It will quickly become compulsory reading for anyone – scholars and general readers -- interested in understanding the state of modern love and sexuality.” —Eva Illouz, Professor of Sociology, Hebrew University, Israel

“This is an empirically rich history of the modern 'single'. Revealing the developing tensions between pragmatism and feeling – or, as Strimpel rather beautifully puts it, 'the methodical and the magical' – in a changing world and pointing to the confusions, contradictions and impossibilities of modern dating, this is interdisciplinary work at its best.” —Claire Langhamer, Professor of Modern British History, University of Sussex, UK

“An enthralling, serious and deeply-researched account of singleness in contemporary Britain.” —Harry Cocks, Associate Professor of British History, University of Nottingham, UK