Shyness is a part of being human. The world would be a more insipid, less creative place without it. By Joe Moran.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary describes shyness as being “diffident or uneasy in company; timid”. In this new “field guide to shyness”, Joe Moran, the author of several quiet, very British, social histories including Queuing for Beginners and On Roads, does nothing so bold as announce his own definition of the term… By Katy Guest.